Dag Hammarsjkold

In grade school I remember reading in my Weekly Reader about Dag Hammarsjkold, Secretary General of the United Nations. He remained a dim memory until somewhere along the way, I heard a simple but beautiful prayer that he wrote. It sank back into the cobwebs until one day it burst back to the surface as my wife, Kay, and I were walking back to our car after a doctor’s visit.

Our son, Austin, was three and had not begun to speak.  We learned of a campaign of whispers amongst the family that something might be wrong.  We thought they were overreacting.  Finally ceding to grandparents' concerns, we reluctantly took him for a battery of tests.  A few days later we sat in the doctor's office to hear the results. Before we went in, we thought we would hear something along the lines of, "He's a boy and boys take a little longer to speak. So nothing to worry about."

We were wrong. The doctor patiently went through the results of each test which showed Austin severely behind in developing language and responsiveness to social cues.  Ever the optimist, I asked the doctor, "Will he get grow out of this?"

He paused and said quietly, "He might get worse."

Afterwards, after Kay and I walked back to the car in shock, we knew our life had taken an unexpected and fearful turn into the unknown. We were in store for a life we never envisioned.

The next morning I came into my office in Deerfield and put printed out that prayer and pinned it on my cubicle wall where I saw it every time I sat down at my desk. It served as a constant reminder of the sweetness and preciousness of this life and that with faith and resolve we can face whatever the future may bring. Looking back over those twenty-two years since, it is as meaningful today as it was the day I first hung it. Gratitude, acceptance, humbleness, hope and faith. Fully expressed in thirteen words:

"For all that has been: thank you. For all that will be: yes."