Check It Out: My uncle turned tragedy into triumph

By Joan Janzen

I am writing this missive on my birthday, an annual occasion which I celebrate as an excuse to eat too much cake and chocolate. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I'm reminded of the importance of the choices we make. So as I pop another chocolate into my mouth (because it's my birthday), I remember my favourite uncle who turned tragedy into triumph.

My uncle, Joe Schwengler, was a 19-year-old farm boy when he lost his arm in a farming accident in 1931. I'm not sure how hospitals handled amputations back then, but the nearest hospital was a twenty-mile trip by horse and buggy. And as I did a bit of research, I discovered antibiotics weren't widely available at that time, so the risk of infection was a great danger. Prosthetics were expensive, and had to be ordered from a catalogue or surgical supply company.

In spite of all those obstacles, I always marvelled as I watched my uncle skillfully use his hook. He insisted on driving a standard vehicle, operated all the farming equipment and dabbled in carpentry as a hobby. And he could roll a cigarette with one hand faster than anybody I've ever known.

On special occasions he'd put aside his hook and wear a gloved prosthetic hand. He never shared information about the farming accident or how he managed to adjust afterwards, but he definitely had made an important choice to not allow the tragedy to put limitations on his life or dampen his sense of humour. After he retired from farming, his favourite activity was babysitting the drunks who spent the night in the local jail.

I read a quote which said, "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is your power to choose your response. In your response lies your growth and your freedom."

Those words take on a whole new meaning when you realize they were written by Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist, neurologist and Holocaust survivor. In 1942 this medical doctor was imprisoned in four different concentration camps over a period of three years. In 1946 he published a book after observing inmates' reactions to their situations and how survivors came to terms with their liberation.

Viktor Frankl experienced some of the darkest conditions imaginable, but realized no matter what happens to us, there is always a space between what happens and how we respond. And how we respond is one of the biggest keys to a happy, successful, meaningful and productive life.

As an example of a productive life, I read about someone who I had not heard about. Ralph Teetor lost his sight before his 7th birthday, yet his family encouraged him to live as if nothing had changed. Born into a manufacturing family business, the curious youngster learned how to identify tools by touch. By the time he was 12, he and his uncle were building cars from discarded parts.

He went on to obtain a degree in mechanical engineering, patented numerous inventions and took over the family enterprise. His most famous invention, cruise control, was developed during the war years when fuel and rubber were rationed and a 35-mile-per-hour speed limit was imposed. In 1946 he invented a device that would keep a car at a steady speed and patented it in 1950. Chrysler was the first to implement the system, and whenever Ralph was praised for his accomplishments, his blindness was never mentioned.

He also spoke to blind veterans after the war, encouraging those who lost their sight that they didn't need to lose their ability to be productive and successful. It was just a matter of choice.

Once again Viktor Frankl's quote has proven to be true: "In your response lies your growth and your freedom."

Ralph Teetor died in 1982 at the age of 91. In spite of his adversity at a young age, he chose to persevere. His productive life supported industries, created jobs and influenced generations of drivers who may never recognize his name, but enjoy the product of his creativity.

Even in the worst circumstances, we possess the freedom to choose how we respond. Circumstances didn't dictate the lives of Viktor Frankl, Ralph Teetor or my Uncle Joe; their power to choose gave them their freedom to experience successful, productive, happy and meaningful lives.

The quality of our lives is determined less by what happens to us and more by how we respond to what happens.

Viktor realized even in the worst circumstances imaginable, human beings still possess the freedom to choose, and if that freedom existed in a horrible place like a concentration camp, it certainly exists in our everyday lives.

My uncle was living proof. He turned his tragedy into triumph. Growing up with an uncle wielding a hook, I didn't even know the word handicapped existed. I only knew my uncle as a very capable and talented farmer.