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Real Answers™
jd36
Copyright: © ©2007 Jill Darling
660 words

GLENN GAVE IT ALL

By: Jill Darling

The tractor-trailer slid on black ice. Glenn counter-steered but slammed into a rock wall. After the cab of the Frito-Lay truck overturned he pulled himself out and onto the road. He sustained internal injuries.   

At the hospital his spleen was removed and his severed liver repaired. His recovery was miraculous.  

Glenn continued to work hard and play hard. He described his numerous brushes with death and joked that he had more lives than a cat. But the lives finally ended.  

His injuries and his autoimmune disease caused the liver to deteriorate.  He was placed on a transplant list, but never received one. He died on Christmas Eve 2006, ten years after he lay on the pavement next to his overturned truck.  Glenn was 53.  

Glenn touched a lot of lives. He was fun; when he was around, you knew you were going to have a good time. His easy-going, life-of-the-party ways brightened the lives of his family, friends and co-workers. He loved fishing, golf, hunting, canoeing, skiing and four-wheeling, and always invited others to join in.  

He was dubbed the "unofficial director of entertainment" for our church. Glenn's personality and his group excursions brought a new dimension to the lives of the rest of us.  

For more than 20 years our family shared home-schooling activities and skiing with Glenn and his family. When there was heavy snow, I'd never call Glenn and ask, "Are we going?" It was always "Where?" 

He would have the whole vanload of skiers laughing hysterically at his wild stories, complete with sound effects. Glenn was a rough-and-tumble guy who pushed the limit in whatever he did, and he wanted others to do the same. After her first ski lesson, conducted by Glenn, my sister-in-law ended up in rehab with a torn cartilage. Glenn himself wore a knee brace while skiing due to his daring ski jumps and "crash-and-burn" landings. Nothing stopped him. 

His son Derek recalls, "After Dad and a blacksmith friend tried to move a forge, his friend decided it was impossible. But Dad grabbed the forge, picked it up with all of his might and that was it. If you told him he couldn't do something, he'd do it just to prove you wrong." 

In addition to his dogged determination, Glenn was compassionate. He was the first to volunteer his truck and muscles when someone needed to move household goods. He plowed snow to earn extra skiing money, but always plowed the church lot for free. 

He used to pick up trash along the river when he and his brother canoed as kids in Florida, bringing back loads of tin cans and other debris. The man from whom they rented the canoes was so impressed he let them canoe at no charge. 

What impacted me most about Glenn is that he selflessly gave of himself for others.He was always willing to pitch in and help, and he included as many people as possible in his activities. He took the extra time and effort in the midst of his own busy schedule. 

The people whose lives he touched shared their stories at his memorial service. He was passionate about everything he did and infused that zest for life into his family and friends. "Each one has his own gift from God..," says the Apostle Paul.   

Glenn had a gift. He was our gift.

"Real Answers™" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy Foundation, write or E-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901-6091; amyfoundtn@aol.com

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