Identifying the Gifted
Einstein was four years old before he could speak and seven
before he could read.
Isaac Newton did poorly in grade school.
When Thomas Edison was a boy, his teachers told him he was too
stupid to learn anything.
F.W.Woolworth got a job in a dry goods store when he was 21. But his
employers would not let him wait on a customer because he "Didn't
have enough sense."
A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he had "No good ideas"
Caruso's music teacher told him "You can't sing, you have no voice
at all."
Leo Tolstoy flunked out of college.
Verner Von Braun flunked 9th grade algebra.
Admiral Richard E. Byrd had been retired from the navy, as, "Unfit
for service" Until he flew over both poles.
Louis Pasteur was rated as mediocre in chemistry when he attended
the Royal College
Abraham Lincoln entered The Black Hawk War as a captain and came out
a private
Fred Waring was once rejected from high school chorus.
Winston Churchill failed the sixth grade.
And so did my very dear nameless friend...
When Hope is Forgotten
I met him near the end of 2003. At 44 years old he had musical gifts beyond logic. He was the best singer I had ever heard. His golden hands had their way with any instrument he touched. He's not just good. He's Special. But there's only one problem. He lost that little boy, who was full of hope and a dream to reach for the stars. And beyond that he was so very smart. He wanted to be a doctor at one time. But in so many ways he was lost before he ever got to high school.
He's Not Alone
As a small child, I sat in the back of a classroom timid and afraid to show I was smart. Academically, I was a statistic that got buried a long time ago. And we'll never know how far I could have gone. The world is full of adults just like me and my friend, walking around, saying their coulda - woulda - shoulda's....