Today's QOTD: September 3, 2010

‎"I think one of the most important attributes is perseverance." - David Rose, Musician

Today, I'm writing about my Dad.  Joseph Jonathan Cook II was born in 1919 as the youngest of 11 children.  From the time he picked up a football at the age of 6, it was as if it was meant to be (my great-grandfather - Joseph Jonathan Cook I -  is a member of the Orginal Pro Football Hall of Fame (before Canton) as he was a Pro Player in the 1880's and 1890's).  Dad lived in Iowa, California (where he had a near death experience at the age of 8 and remembered everything - including the light and the warmth - he almost drowned in the Pacific Ocean), and then back in Iowa again, graduating from Greenfield HS in 1938, and was an All-State Football selection - 1st Team, in fall 1937.  Growing up in hard times, he enrolled at Simpson College in Indianola, IA (also a College I attended before transferring), and immediately started on the Football Team, earning All-American consideration as a Punter and Defensivc End.  He was also runner up to James Angell (the famous Presbyterian Author) for "Most Representative Male on Campus" in 1940, in which Dad felt honored to be 2nd to a person like James.  He was President of Kappa Theta Psi (the world's oldest Local Collegiate Fraternity) for 3 years, up to the time of Pearl Harbor.  On the night of December 7, 1941, Dad decided to enlist on Tuesday, December 9th.  The Fraternity threw a going away party for him on the 8th, presenting him with a gold watch.  On the 9th, he reported to enlist in the Army.

The physical went well until the physician checked for a heartbeat in the normal location, and couldn't find one.  When asked why this was, Dad said his heart was on the right ride of the sternum (like everyone else - or so he thought).  Turns out that Dad was a "Dextroardia Situs Inversus," a very rare genetic trait that completely places the internal organs on the opposite sides within the body, compared to everyone else, and the odds of this are approximately 1 in 500 million.  "Dextrocardia," (just the heart) is much more common, but not the type that Dad had.  Rated as a "Battlefield Surgical Risk" (physicians weren't trained for this condition), he was classified as 4-F - NOT the popular thing to be in WW2.  Embarrassed and dejected, Dad did not return to College or his friends (he couldn't face them) - 6 hours short of his BA Degree in History and a certificate for Coaching, which remained until his death.

Mom (a Simpson Student beginning in fall 1941) and Dad met in 1943, and were married on traditional Memorial Day (May 30, 1943).  From the point of the 4-F to his death, Dad persevered to give back to those who did so much for him at Simpson.  His best friend, Dean Ray, was KIA in the Pacific Theatre in 1944, so to honor Dean's memory, James Rae Cook was born on November 12, 1949, the middle name in honor of Dean (Jim died of Leukemia on April 24, 1975, when I was 16 and a Junior at Corning HS).  Dad never forgot his friends, and repaid each and every one of them for their kindness and generosity through their friendship, and for the party that was thrown in his honor on December 8, 1941.  By the time he died on May 18, 2002 of Congestive Heart Failure, he had persevered to keep his promise and had completed his mission.

Are you "Keeping and Delivering the Promise?"  If you need inspiration, hopefully the story above will help you do just that.

Think about it . . . Dad, I love you and I miss you so much.  God Bless You, and thank you for teaching me how to be a true Disciple and a true Citizen with true Values.  You did good . . .

Yogi:  10:52AM CDT