Ain't No Mountain High Enough

I met an amazing teenager (in this case not an oxymoron) the other day.  Someone that I know is going far in this world. Somebody who has already impacted thousands of people in our community and across the country.  A girl I want to be like when I grow up.

Her name is Liindsay Jones, and she is an honor student, musician, singer, dancer, recipient of the Prudential Spirit Award, and honorary youth chairperson for the American Cancer Society. 

Oh yeah, Lindsay, at age 15, also is a 10-year cancer survivor of a very rare form of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma.  But, Lindsay doesn’t let the cancer define her, she defines the cancer to any group or person that will pay attention.

To meet Lindsay is to be inspired.  She is surrounded by positive energy and she engulfs you in that same spirit. Her gentle responses of “yes, ma’am” and “no, sir” serve to show that despite the challenges she has faced, her mother and father never let the cancer usurp their positive parenting and they never let Lindsay forget that she was a child and daughter first and a cancer survivor second.

When Lindsay speaks, the crowd listens enthralled. And when she sings she brings a crowd to tears. While her voice is not booming, its power cannot be denied. Her message comes through clearly to all who listen: there are no excuses not to achieve your dreams. NONE.

At one month shy of her fourth birthday, Lindsay was diagnosed with a cancer that up until that time had only been seen in teenage boys.  She couldn’t spell it and could barely say it. But, she soon learned what it meant.  She stayed in Children’s Hospital almost the entire fourth year of her life fighting for her life. 

Her days at Children’s consisted of radiation for breakfast, chemo for lunch and love for dinner and beyond. This young child only asked for one thing during that time…to be allowed to attend church. But, it took almost a year for that wish to be granted and now she does so regularly and eagerly.

Lindsay and her parents were given very little hope by her doctors that she would survive. However, they didn’t succumb to that belief and they prove those same docs wrong every day.  Not only did she survive, but she kicked her cancer to the curb and now challenges others to do the same.

Today, Lindsay is a vibrant teenager who attends Madison County High School. She is involved in the band, 4-HClub, takes all advanced classes, sings, dances and…exhausts me! She is also Honorary Youth Chair for the American Cancer Society’s 2012 Relay for Life that will be held in John Hunt Park in May. 

And that’s how I met Lindsay the first time.  She came into the room leading her mother and I couldn’t help but watch her make her way to me with such poise and confidence for such a young person. She stuck her small hand out firmly and said “Hi, I’m Lindsay. It is so nice to meet you.”  She went on to tell me her goal was to be a doctor and to help others facing cancer.

During our second volunteer meeting she wowed the crowd with her story and her song:

“There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose

Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb…”

With nary a dry eye in the house, I had to follow her on the stage that night and me, who is rarely at a loss for words, could only say to that room full of stunned volunteers “Wow…Wow.”

Afterwards, Lindsay thanked me. With her small, soft hand gently holding on to mine, she thanked me for allowing her to help make a difference.

Lindsay did not survive her ordeal entirely unscathed. She lost her eyesight during her battle with cancer. But, Lindsay sees more clearly than any adult I have ever met. During this month of November, I give thanks for Lindsay and the vision she has given me.

Harvard, Yale or Hairdressing School?

When you don't know quite what to do, do what rich people do. I have yet to meet any adults who are wealthy and have three kids who say: 'Harvard, Yale or hairdressing school?' – Geoffrey Canada, President/CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone.

Education has long been a passion of mine. Maybe it’s in my genetic make-up. Jews have been murdered, persecuted, raped and enslaved for more than 2,000 years. (My great-grandmother witnessed her mother’s head being loped off during a Pogrom in Russia and quickly high-tailed it to the nearest ship heading to the United States to make a better life for herself. She was 12.) Yet, somehow we always managed to survive and prevail in any culture we lived. 

Usually within one generation of arriving to any country, Jewish immigrants developed thriving and successful communities.  They became educators, bankers, business owners and town leaders before they were chased out and forced to start over again.  I attribute their success to the long held value placed on education and the support of the village to help raise the children. 

My family is a perfect example of that philosophy. My grandfather emigrated from Austria as a young child of four. As an adult, he bought his own textile store and saw his children grow up to be educators and business owners. In my own household, while money was scarce, there was never a doubt that my brothers and I were going to college and that is the same message I raised my children believing. 

Before graduating from high school, I attended 13 schools in three different states. I went to some of the poorest and wealthiest schools in the communities I lived. And I can say unequivocally that schools with a higher percentage of poor students did not have the same advantages as the others.

Last month, I had the privilege of attending a luncheon hosted by the Village of Promise that featured Geoffrey Canada, a world renown, education reformer. His message was simple: while you can’t save everyone, you can save someone and we all have an obligation to make the attempt.

Canada’s story is amazing.  In the 1990’s, he started trying to end generational poverty in Harlem by carving out 17 square blocks and providing extensive support services to the children and families that lived there starting pre-birth. 

During the next 20 years, that number grew to 100 blocks and 17,000 children. Today, 87 percent of his eighth grade students are at grade level in math, higher than any other public school in New York. He didn’t let naysayers stop him. He didn’t let his lack of money stop him. He let his vision and his heart guide him. And that is what we have to do in our own community today.

Canada says that what drove him was his belief that there was no “Superman” that was going to come and save him or his neighborhood. That it was up to him and the Harlem community to save themselves.

The Village of Promise is taking that same message to Huntsville residents. They brought Canada to town to encourage our community to stop blaming each other and begin tackling our own generational poverty. 

It is a fact that it is difficult to learn on an empty stomach with a body that aches. It’s harder yet, when you don’t have the basic tools or a positive role model to show you how to succeed.

"If you have a school where kids are behind and they're in school the same number of days that other kids are in school ... why would we expect these kids to ever catch up? They have never caught up anywhere in America. We've got to rethink schools, but no one wants to do that. You know what we do instead of rethink schools? We fire superintendents," Canada told the Huntsville crowd from which he heard a chorus of “amens”.

Huntsville has an opportunity to save its children and its educational system. But, first we must realize that it is our responsibility to do so. It is much cheaper to educate and train our future workforce than it is to support a growing prison population. And that, too, is a fact.