Do You Believe in Miracles?

I can still hear Al Michael's voice asking the question that will live in sports infamy. Michaels counted down and with five seconds remaining asked the viewing audience, "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" The unlikely group of US hockey players were about to beat the highly favored Soviet Union team to advance to the gold medal game in the 1980 winter olympics at Lake Placid, New York. Noone gave this ragtag group of unknown college players a chance of winning a medal, let alone gold. I recently watched the movie Miracle starring Kurt Russell and when I heard Al Michael's call once again, I had goosebumps on my arms and tears running down my cheeks.

It was a spectacular event that will always have a place in sports history but a miracle. What about real life miracles? I mean like the unexplained remission of cancer or the inexplicable healing of some affliction. Do miracles really happen today?

For me the answer is a resounding, "Yes!" If you could hear the excitement in the voice of my dad talking about his new lease on life at the age of 72, you'd believe too. See not too long ago my father was forced to give up his dental practice after 35+ years in practice. It was discovered in a series of physical exams that a blow to the head in an auto accident several years earlier had left the part of his brain that deals with judgement, impaired.

He was near retirement age when it was discovered but having his great passion taken away and then the resulting bouts with memory lapse left my dad bitter and anger. None of us want to go out on someone else's terms.

You have to understand, though, my dad knew when he was in seventh grade that he wanted to be a dentist. I think the only thing I knew I wanted to do in seventh grade was to be in eighth grade. Not my dad. He just knew. Now it's one thing to know you want to be a dentist. It is quite another to come from a town of about 500 and a father who worked in a blue collar job with no prospects of paying for the 4 years of undergraduate school or the 2 years of dental school and 2 years of intern training required to achieve this goal.

With his goal firmly locked in, my father proceeded to earn a scholarship for undergraduate school. He worked and used his gambling skills to earn his room and board. Well, most undergraduates take 4 years to finish all the requirements needed for acceptance to dental school. Not my dad. He finished in three. He knew what he wanted and would not be slowed.

From undergraduate to dental school and from dental school to practicing in the Air Force, my dad saw his goal to completion. After serving his tour in the service he returned to the central Illinois area of his youth to set up practice. He was not just your average dentist either. He was skilled in the lab fitting dentures and continued his schooling over the years to help those with chronic headaches and pain due to TMJ. He had a passion for his work and a passion for growing in his trade.

In the office he not only eased his patient's in the chair but he had a bedside manner that was unlike any I have ever seen in all my travels to this day. He created an atmosphere where people were not afraid to see go to the dentist. With such antics like dressing in costume for Halloween and dressing as Cupid for Valentine's day, he created an atmosphere where people stopped by even when they didn't have an appointment. Do you know anyone who goes to the dentist office when they don't have to?

Now you understand why losing something so near and dear to his heart would cause so much anguish. On top of having his career rug pulled from under him, he had to deal with the consequences of some poor financial decisions that left him in need of income. If that wasn't enough, he had to deal with issues of memory loss and confusion from the earlier brain trauma. All tolled, the situation left him nearly suicidal. How could God be so cruel? He felt like God had turned His back on him.

My father went out on a long walk in the woods to make one final plea to God and it hit him like a ton of bricks. At that moment he started on a program reading a book a day and developing brain exercises that would retrain his brain. There was no medical evidence to support his program and no doctor had given him the hope to rejuvenate his brain. He just knew. Just like he knew in seventh grade that he wanted to be a dentist. Over the next few years he could see the improvement. He knew his approach was working.

The final piece (or peace) was getting back what had been taken from him. Well, he did not have a license to practice dentistry, but what he did have was the skill, knowledge and wisdom gained from over 35 years of practicing the discipline he loved. Today, my father works for a dentist doing the lab work and building dentures. He is an artist at the craft and is again using his skill to ease people's pain and bring smiles to their faces.

So now when I hear, "Do you believe in miracles?", I still get goosebumps, but it's for an entirely different reason.