The
Washington Post article by Christopher Ingraham (June 13th, 2014) says it all
"There are more museums within the U.S. than there are Starbucks and
McDonald's - combined." Quite accurately we expect of museums as important
cultural and academic institutions; however, they're also quiet superstars of
the show business . consistent with The American Alliance of Museums (AAM),
with over 800 million live visits annually, their attendance exceeds that of
all theme parks and major sporting events combined. But America's museums are
far more than popular and numerous; they're cultural and academic gems that
play an important role. they're community elders that tell the stories of our
American neighborhoods. Mamie Bittner with The Institute of Museum and Library
Studies (IMLS) stated within the Washington Post article:
"Many
of those institutions, particularly in small towns and rural areas, are
historical societies and history museums. We are crazy with our history - at a
really grassroots level we look after the histories of our towns, villages and
counties,"
The
story of how I came to go to and admire numerous small museums begins nearly
eight years ago once I faced a scary scenario. Diagnosed with prostatic
adenocarcinoma my doctor's instructions were clear and blunt. "We caught
this thing very early; lose some weight but by year's end lookout of
this." Taking care of this meant either an operation or radiation. He was
confident that either procedure would be sufficient; nevertheless, i used to be
scared as hell. once you hear that diagnosis, "you have cancer",
thousand things race through your mind all directly , yet somehow the entire
world stops at an equivalent time. What are the treatment options... I even
have to research each treatment... I even have to research the surgeons... what
if i do not make it... what happens to my wife... what happens to my family...
i would like this thing out of me... how does one research these things ... i
would like this done before the top of the year... why me... why not me. My
mind was racing, racing, racing. Who do I tell? When do I tell them? Should I
tell them? My mind was just racing, racing, racing.
It
was June 2010. i used to be 54 years old, a professor, husband and father.
Earlier that year my wife had been hospitalized for 34 days. Should I tell my
wife? Would this aggravate her condition? She was already worried about being
unemployed. Do I tell her? Our three sons were beat highschool and doing
reasonably well; the oldest would start college within the fall. Out of worry
would my oldest boy forgo his athletic scholarship to remain home together with
his ailing parents? albeit he did attend college, if he knew i used to be
battling cancer how would this affect him academically? Who should I tell? Do I
tell my boys? Do I tell everyone? Do I tell no one?
I
once heard somewhere that "we get older and become our parents." How
true that's . Although it didn't occur to me at the time, I'd seen this example
play out before in 1969; i used to be 12. at some point my dad asked me to
return with him to his doctor. This was strange; he had never asked me to
travel to a doctor with him before. We visited St. Nicholas Park, Mount Morris
Park, Central Park , baseball games, museums and grocery stores. On Sundays we
walked to newsstands to shop for the ny Times and Daily News. Afterwards we'd
come home and eat big southern style Sunday breakfasts - smothered chicken,
smothered pork chops, grits, gravy and biscuits, never rolls - always biscuits.
We did tons , but he had never asked me to travel to a doctor with him. I
should have known that something was up, but I didn't.
The
doctor's appointment happened on an early evening. The office was located on
the primary floor of an apartment house and it had been dark outside. I sat
within the lounge while my dad met privately with the doctor. That day his
doctor told him he had six months to measure . My dad a tall, quiet, dignified
WWII vet said nothing. We went home and he acted as if nothing had happened. He
kept it all to himself. Yet twenty one years later, and long after his doctor
had died, my dad was still alive. He told nobody this frightening secret for
all of these years. Finally, in 1990 he spoke with me about what had happened
thereon day way back in 1969. once I asked him why he hadn't said anything he
had a classic answer, "Hell, I wasn't gonna die to only to form the doctor
look good." to the present day I still do not know if he ever told anyone
else.
In
2010, 41 years after my dad was told he had six months to measure and said
nothing to the family, I became my dad - absent the courage and dignity of the
WWII vet. Initially I told nobody . I did however hear my doctor's advice and
commenced power-walking aggressively to lose the load . I weighed 308 pounds.
This was the start of a journey. Little did i do know it might transform my
health, my body and to an excellent degree my soul.
I
elected for a robotic prostatectomy as treatment. Recognizing that i might be
hospitalized for several days i used to be forced to mention something to my
wife. Every husband knows that disappearing for several days without telling your
wife may be a guaranteed death sentence; cancer is merely potentially lethal.
We sat down on the front room sofa on a Sunday around 7pm. it had been the
evening before I'd be admitted to the hospital. This scenario gave her little
or no time to linger over the matter; I had to be at the hospital early
subsequent day. As I had feared, she broke down and commenced to cry and as
soon I uttered the word cancer. We agreed to not tell our sons; we both thought
it'd cause them to stress .
Fortunately
the operation was a hit . Neither chemotherapy nor radiation was required.
Several months later I resumed my power-walking. Over time a routine evolved. I
prefer walking outdoors in parks (no matter the temperature) to treadmills and
tracks, mornings are better than evenings, warmups last 5 - 7 minutes, weekday
walks last 45 - 50 minutes, weekend sessions last a minimum of 90 minutes and
eventually , most sessions end with 7- 8 minutes of stretching. I walk 4 times
per week during cold months and 4 - 5 times per week during warm months, I also
found a really reliable partner, music from the 70s, 80s and 90s. My partner
also gets along fabulously with an ancient Sony Walkman. Who knows, perhaps
this partner is my subconscious whispering to job my memory of long lost youth.
While
I don't claim to be a really religionist , being outdoors in parks (which are
in any case tiny forests) sweating, breathing and among the overall splendor of
God's nature is usually a spiritual event. The cancer has now been gone for
nearly eight years. Over that point 70 pounds have melted away and my diabetes
seems to possess disappeared, or at the very least be controlled. Along the way
i started to enter races; I power-walk but compete against runners. Half
marathons (13.1 miles) and 10Ks (6.2 miles) are my favorites. Being somewhat
vain, before entering my first race I checked the days of the runners to form
sure i might not finish last. initially I entered local races. Later a
colleague, who may be a runner, told me about the Philadelphia "Love
Marathon" which I competed in. This lead me to research races in other
locations. Now, I visit participate I races. However, journeying to different
cities only to participate during a single race seemed hardly to be an
efficient use of your time and travel. I needed another activity to go with the
racing. this is often how I developed an interest in small museums.
I
had some experience with researching museums. Years ago I had begun exploring
museums as excursion venues for top school students. At the time I supervised a
university program that provided various activities for at-risk highschool
students. The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) provided an excellent deal of
data for our program. Later, as i started to seem for museums within the cities
and towns i might be racing in, AAM and a number of other other museum related
organizations like The Institute of Museum and Library Service (IMLS) and
Museums of the planet (MOW) became valuable resources. One incontrovertible
fact that immediately became clear is that America is that the undisputed
museum capitol of the planet . consistent with MOW there have been an estimated
55,000 museums located in 202 countries in 2014. IMLS, (a U.S. agency) states
there are 35,144 active museums within the us alone. Assuming these data are
accurate, over 63% of the world's museums are located in America. The IMLS
2012-16 Strategic Plan points out "There are quite 4.5 billion objects
held publicly trust by museums, libraries, archives and other institutions within
the U.S."
0 Comments