Women Dig the Eye Patch

[Seahawk]

I posted this in another thread a bit ago:

I have been having a bit of an internal struggle on whether or not to share my thoughts on this. I greatly admire your perspective and viewpoints and I would hate to come off as an oaf.

Perspective is, however, a critical component in dealing with adversity, perhaps second only to examples of virtuous and exemplary behaviors in the face of trouble and pain. So:

My son lost all sight in his left eye late this summer. He had an accident on the farm, the details of which are not important. It was an accident, a million to one occurrence. No one is to blame. He received the best care possible at Johns Hopkins but saving the eye was not possible.

Jack was to be a senior at the Virginia Military Institute. His hope and dreams were centered on commissioning this coming Spring as an Army 2LT and pursing the very difficult goal of Special Ops. He was on an Army ROTC Scholarship.

He is universally liked and admired, a very special young man with a great sense of humor and ethic. His senior enlisted advisers at VMI are among his biggest fans.

Everyone was devastated by the news because they knew Jack lost more than an eye, he lost the opportunity to pursue his life-long dream. He is 20 years old.

My wife and I immediately began to put plans in place to ensure not only his physical well-being, but to also attend to the inevitable mental stress Jack might suffer.

In the quiet funny ones, however, there is great strength. His Doctors pulled me aside two days after the accident and told me they have never had the occasion to deal with a better young man: "His attitude is incredible, he faces every surgery with grace and humor."

As the next few weeks went by my wife and I alternated days at home. Jack had to stay quiet and relax without any physical stress. While there was no hope of restoring his eye-sight in his left eye, they wanted to save the "globe". He was in a good deal of pain but managing.

On my second shift home, Jack came into my home office and asked me what I was doing, why I was home. I have always been honest with Jack so I told him: Just being here for you, must be tough on you and we want to make sure you get the support you need...words to that affect.

It got very humbling from here on out. He told me then that he knows he lost a great opportunity, but that there will be others, that is goal now is to rejoin his Brother Rats at VMI and graduate with his class.

"I lost a spare", he told me, "but I have a big life ahead of me. Just a different one than before." Those words exactly.

My wife and I both went back to work.

After his last surgery he was cleared for physical activity and I got him back up to speed driving (legal in all 50 States). Another very important goal for him was that he drive himself back to school. We got him all the right gear and helped him prepare.

There have been minor dips but he is back at VMI in a leadership role his senior year and will graduate on time. He drove himself. His room mates kid him incessantly and he often wears an eye patch to scare the Rats (freshmen) As a senior he gets his own Rat, which his roommates have dubbed the "Seeing Eye Rat", complete with a leash.

So there it is. Take for the above what you will. You have a big life ahead of you, just different than before. Ask Jack, he'll tell you.

As you can imagine, we've wondered and worried in the face of his strength, not knowing the how he does it but confident in who he is. My son has a bit of a stubborn streak so we've got that going for us

He was home last weekend for eye checks at Hopkins and a family touch and go. All is blessedly well. His life at VMI is as raucous and fun and full of grab azz as before. He is just Jack.

We went for a drive before he left and he spills the beans: Chicks dig the eye patch. He is a good looking young man, fit as a tuning fork and funny; but evidently, an eye patch will find you new purchase.

Just wanted to share. Life is hard, it doesn't have to be miserable. Attitude is an elixir.

[Amail]

I always look forward to reading your posts. I inevitably come away with fresh perspective.

Jack is a real inspiration!

[Rikao4]

remember reading that post..
I was heartbroken for him..
he's gonna be fine..
can see him now as the Lady sneaks out of his room..
and he mutters..
I'll keep an eye out for you..
she smiles ...

Rika

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Amail

I always look forward to reading your posts. I inevitably come away with fresh perspective.

Jack is a real inspiration!

I agree.

My grandmother lived a long life with just one eye in an era where she just had to get on with life or perish.

[Oh Haha]

Originally Posted by Amail

I always look forward to reading your posts. I inevitably come away with fresh perspective.

Jack is a real inspiration!

I was going to come up with a witty remark but this pretty much says it for me.

[craigster59]

Glad to hear the news Paul! Maybe Jack has a future as the new "Hathaway Man" his military retirement.

"Hathaway is most famous for its "man with an eye patch" advertising campaign, which was created by Ogilvy & Mather in 1951.[2] The man who appeared in the ad was Baron George Wrangell, who was a Russian aristocrat with 20/20 vision,[3] but the advertisement's creator, David Ogilvy, was inspired by a picture of Lewis Douglas, who had lost an eye in a fishing accident.[4] The "Hathaway man" campaign was selected by Advertising Age as #22 on its list of the greatest ad campaigns of the 20th century.[5]

The "Hathaway man" reappeared in a 1993 sketch on Saturday Night Live, where he was played by Phil Hartman sans moustache. The Hathaway man works to get a discouraged hand model who lost part of a finger in a car accident back into modeling"

[speeder]

Sorry to hear of the accident but he'll be fine. As you pointed out, he has the gift of good attitude. I'm convinced that is the single most important quality a person can have in life, although other qualities are also important. He probably has those ones too.

[Baz]

Good to hear, Paul. Carpe diem...no matter what the circumstances!

Please continue to share stories about Jack as appropriate.

You know he has a bunch of Dutch Uncles here!

[Rot 911]

Sounds like a hell of a great young man. And to graduate from VMI will be quite an achievement. The pull of the military will always be strong with him. Probably more so now that it will always be out of reach. Perhaps he will be able to find a job that will keep him in some kind of contact/work that can scratch that itch.

[VaSteve]

I remember meeting your son. A very fine young man. I don't say that often.

[pete3799]

Glad he's adapted well Paul.
The brassieres will come of like sling shots during talk like a pirate day.

[ted]

I knew a NZY (RL) tower air traffic controller that had a waiver and would put his glass eye on the counter and work traffic with one real eye better than anyone with 2 eyes.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Paul, you and the wife did well. You should both be very proud.

[crustychief]

He sounds like a chip off the block. I am certain with his attitude, the loss of his "spare" will not slow him down much, if at all.

[aigel]

There are many respectable historic figures with eye patches. I vividly remember Moshe Dayan. He was shot by a sniper while holding binoculars and it took out the eye ball and a lot of bone / soft tissue, so he had to wear a patch. He was not only a soldier, general and politician but also a womanizer, so it probably worked for him as well.

Good Luck to your son - with the ladies and otherwise!

G

[Seahawk]

My son is home for Spring Break after he had a St. Patrick's Day in DC last night.

They still dig the eye patch.

So, apparently, do the "Rats" at VMI: They call him "Captain Morgan" and bring him coffee every morning. Special stuff.

Last night he stumbled upon a VMI grad who knows one of his professors: "So your are the one-eyed guy, the guy LtCol X talks about. I need to buy you a beer."

And so it goes. Move forward, always move forward, take the hit and move forward.

Here is Jack with his Rat, taken in October of last year:

[livi]

The world could sure use more people with the caliber of your son and yourself.

[speeder]

Looking good.

[nostatic]

Arrrrrrrrggggghhhhhh

Winning

[herr_oberst]

Reminds me of an ad with another Jack:

"Confidence is very sexy, don't you think?"