I first knew David when he was but a lad I coached in elementary school football. He was a dandy . . . bright-eyed and ready to go at all times. He was outstanding at football, a fine student and a Sunday school regular. A plus: his mother was an angel and his step-father a fine fellow.
His mother told me that each morning she had David’s breakfast on the table and the morning paper beside of the plate. She said he “couldn’t eat breakfast without it.” I was impressed that a sixth-grader read newspapers. I still am impressed with this guy.
Then one day he didn’t feel well and it turned out to be polio. He recovered well, but football was over for him. He continued to study hard and became a professional in the sciences and a public speaker of some note.
He married a beautiful young woman and then Post Polio Syndrome struck. This can develop as long as 40 years after the disease. It hit David in mid-life and it has been decades of tough going.
Typically, there is fatigue, breathing problems, joint and muscle weakness and pain. I do not know if it is progressive and had rather not ask or even know. There are days he’s too tired to e-mail and at times he writes one missive he sends to three or four friends.
He had to quit his job. He no longer could work. Eventually he took his family and moved into his father-in-law’s house. Some father-in-law (a retired well-known college football coach).
David and I have remained in e-mail touch as he tried one thing and another, some way to work that would accommodate his illness.
When he told me he was going to try his hand at painting, I thought, “Well, God bless him. You can’t blame a guy for trying.” He had never had a lesson but it interested him. Touched my heart: a good, bright, middle-aged man searching for a job.
This good man’s paintings are going dreamily well. Public Broadcast System bought one of his works for its permanent collection. Ramey Gallery in Los Angeles shows his work and it’s selling briskly. David’s work was seen in “a big show” in Little Rock, and he has been added to what he describes as “one of the nation’s premier galleries in Cincinnati.”
He has been asked for a piece to be used in an Ohio fund-raiser and has been nominated for artist in residence at three universities.
His two youngest are in college and both posted 3.8’s.
A couple of businessmen have set up a web site for him (davidarnoldart.com) and his wife is moving ahead in real estate management.
Things are looking great for David . . . well, aside from the fact that his beloved mother has died.
But it’s a pleasure to report what’s otherwise such good news about a fellow who’s deserving of every good thing this world can offer.
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