On May 23, 1984, this remarkable story was carried over the wires of the Associated Press As a child, Mary Groda was unable to learn reading and writing. Educational experts labeled her "retarded." In her adolescent years, she was given an additional label, "incorrigible," and was sentenced to two years in a reformatory.
Ironically, it was inside the oppressive confines of the reformatory that Mary rose to the challenge of learning. By working hard at her studies, sometimes as long as sixteen hours per day, she earned her GED.
However, additional difficulty was to visit Mary Groda. Upon leaving the reformatory, she became pregnant without the security of marriage. Then, two years later, a second pregnancy resulted in a stroke, immediately erasing her hard-earned powers of reading and writing.
With the help and support of her father, Mary battled back, regaining what she had lost. In dire financial straits, she was forced to accept welfare. Then, in order to make ends meet, she took in seven foster children.
It was during this period that Mary began taking classes at a community college. Upon completion of her course work, she applied to a medical school and was accepted. In the spring of 1984, Mary Groda Lewis (she was now married) paraded in full academic regalia across the graduation stage. That day the woman who had been labeled "retarded" and "incorrigible" received another label - this time a diploma listing her as Mary Groda Lewis, M.D.
When crisis comes, some people fumble, falter, and fade, while others, like Mary, struggle, survive, and surmount. The difference between those who fail and those who succeed when facing hardship is not education, social class, or intelligence. It has more to do with innate awareness combined with the motivation to triumph over trouble. The truth is that the world is filled with people who have had to deal with the "worst" that life sends and have emerged winners.
By Victor Parachin, Tulsa, Oklahoma
For more on Mary's story visit:
http://starbulletin.com/2002/04/02/features/story1.html
Source: Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) July 2001, Pacific Press, http://www.signstimes.com
from www.witandwisdom.org
Used with permission
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