Oldmails

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DETERMINATON:
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In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was
inspired by an idea
to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York
with the Long Island.
However bridge building experts throughout the world
thought that this
was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget
the idea. It just
could not be done. It was not practical. It had never
been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his
mind of this bridge.
He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in
his heart that it
could be done. He just had to share the dream with
someone else. After
much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince
his son
Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the
bridge in fact could be
built.

Working together for the first time, the father and
son developed
concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the
obstacles could be
overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and
the headiness of a
wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and
began to build
their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few
months underway a
tragic accident on the site took the life of John
Roebling. Washington
was injured and left with a certain amount of brain
damage, which
resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or
even move.

"We told them so."
"Crazy men and their crazy dreams."
"It's foolish to chase wild visions."

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that
the project should
be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones
who knew how the
bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap
Washington was never
discouraged and still had a burning desire to
complete the bridge and
his mind was still as sharp as ever.

He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to
some of his friends,
but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on
his bed in his
hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through
the windows, a gentle
breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he
was able to see the
sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a
moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to
give up. Suddenly an
idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and
he decided to make
the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly
developed a code of
communication with his wife.

He touched his wife's arm with that finger,
indicating to her that he
wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used
the same method of
tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It
seemed foolish but
the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions
with his finger on
his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally
completed. Today the
spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory
as a tribute to the
triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his
determination not to be
defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to
the engineers and
their team work, and to their faith in a man who was
considered mad by
half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument
to the love and
devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently
decoded the
messages of her husband and told the engineers what
to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a
never-say-die attitude
that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and
achieves an impossible
goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life,
our hurdles seem
very small in comparison to what many others have to
face. The Brooklyn
Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can
be realized with
determination and persistence, no matter what the
odds are.

Even the most distant dream can be realized with
determination and
persistence.