Shriners Making a Difference In Peoples Lives

By; Gary Bergenske

Recently I had a friend that works in a library find an interesting Preface in a book.  She was excited to find it and shared it with me as it is always great to see how some of the former Shriners Hospital patients are later in life.  This particular patient is now an author and is vary appreciative of the treatment he received from Shriners.  His name is J. T. Glisson and the name of the book is Guardian Angel 911.  Following is one paragraph out of the books Preface that should make any Shriner proud of being a part of this organization, Shriners Hospitals for Children.

     I was born at Cross Creek, (locally called, “The Creek”) because my folks migrating from Georgia, missed a road and ended up there by accident.  My parents found their place in the world.  And for three quarters of a century it was the ideal place for me to launch my worldly expeditions.  In addition to my Cross Creek family, I had another family five hundred miles to the north.  That family was at the Shriners Hospital for Children in Greenville, South Carolina.  A birth defect resulting in extremely clubbed feet, made it necessary for me to spend three to six months of each year at the hospital, beginning when I was five months old and continuing until my ninth year.  It was at the hospital that I learned there were churches other than Methodist and Baptist, and was introduced to such outlandish things as cauliflower, mineral oil, wicker furniture, and stuffed olives.  Everyone was kind and generous.  The Shriners straightened my clubbed feet and made it possible for me to walk.  The hospital also taught me about man’s love and compassion for his fellow man and inspired an unquenchable thirst for the exciting world waiting just beyond the horizon.  I shall always be grateful to the Shriners.  Like hundreds of thousands of other children they gave me the opportunity to be and do the things one dreams of.

As a Shriner, when you find someone that appreciates not only the treatment he received at Shriners Hospitals, but also how the experience has improved his quality of life, it makes you proud.  There are many stories like this, and you never know when you will come across one.  Each time you do, as a Shriner it makes you puff up inside with pride and a feeling of accomplishment.  Shriners making a difference in lives.