There is much to be admired in all of my seven sons and three daughters but I think James George is at the top of the list.
After being married for three months, my husband George and I were expecting our first child. Our apartment was in Waltham, Massachusetts.
We both loved children and couldn't wait for James George to be born. I knew he was going to be a boy as the whole time I carried him George called him by name.
I am proud to say that Jim is my son and he is someone I love and admire very, very much.
He was such a good baby, that my mom volunteered to take care of him while I worked part time at a small restaurant that I could walk to only two blocks away from our apartment.
It was an unforgettable day that I stopped to pick Jimmy up at my mom's. She said "Jimmy has been fussing ever since you left. He's been rubbing his eyes as if they are painful." She knew that this was very unusual and knew I would think so too.
We lived down the Lane from my mom and by the time I got home and laid Jimmy on his changing table, his right eye had no color at all, it was completely white. I immediately called our family doctor and he quickly said, "Take him into The Boston Eye and Ear in Boston immediately!!!"
We didn't have a car at the time so I called my brother in law Leo, (my sister Judy's husband) and he was at the house within five minutes to pick up George and me. I was shaking. What in the world was happening to our precious little baby boy.
Jimmy was whisked away as soon as we arrived at the hospital. We were worried, scared. out of our minds. Finally the surgeon came and told us Jimmy needed to have an emergency operation on both of his eyes and they couldn't promise us that he wouldn't be blind. Jimmy had Glaucoma. At nineteen years old, I had never heard of it or any other eye diseases. I found out later that the disease is silent and effects both young and old. There is fluid in our eyes that enters one side and goes out the other. If it doesn't flow the fluid builds up pressure in the eye which if not taken care of can and will cause blindness. Jimmy was Blessed by having the best doctors perform the surgery. They saved his left eye but said the right one was completely hopeless. We were totally confused and heartbroken. The doctor told us to go home and come back tomorrow as we couldn't visit him anyway. George and I cried on the way home and through the night.
During the next five years our brave little boy suffered through nine more surgeries on his right eye with the doctors trying to bring the pressure down. The nurses loved him and couldn't tell us enough about the good baby he was. Many times we would not let him see us when we went to visit as we didn't want to upset him, and we'd peek at him around the corner with his baby arms tied to both sides of the crib so he couldn't disturb the bandages. That was so upsetting to us!
In between these trips he was required to go to the clinic once a week for tests during which he was put under ether. He wasn't able to have a bottle or eat from midnight the night before. When he was an infant I would walk the floors of the clinic with my tears mixing with my baby's. He was so hungry and unable to eat until we were on the way home.
That wasn't all this little boy had to endure. Twice a day I had to massage his right eye with my two index fingers. Who do you think cried hardest?
George and I were so grateful to a lady who worked for the Red Cross who was the one that drove us to the hospital once a week for Jimmy's treatments. It was either she or a taxi we had to depend on for transportation.
Jimmy was five years of age the doctor suggested that he prepare for the last surgery and remove Jimmy's right eye. He said it would make him a lot more comfortable with a prosthesis. We agreed of course, anything to help our precious baby.
It wasn't always comfortable either as twice a day I had to remove the prosthesis and flush out the little socket to prevent infections.
At this writing, Jimmy is sixty years old and now I will tell you why he is the one I chose to be the one most admired. This is what he has accomplished while not having peripheral vision.
He played on the Farm league baseball team at seven years old and played ball all through high school.
He was on the high school wrestling team.
He's a great tennis player and golfer.
He's a wonderful singer and entertainer.
He is a member of The Mudville Senior Baseball Team.
Here's the real stuff!!!!
He is a Shihan (means Master).
He is a 7th Degree Black belt in Okinawan Gojurya Karate
A 4th Degree Black Belt Yoshitsune Jujitsu.
A 3rd Degree Black Belt Hakkoryu Jujitsu
He is a member of the Martial Hall of Fame and Master Instructor for the year 2000.
Jimmy has owned his own successful Martial Arts Academy business for many years. He is admired and respected by the parents of all his students for what he does to help them gain self confidence and respect for themselves. He especially loves his work with the youth and has never considered himself handicapped.
Jimmy and his wife Claire who have been married for more than twenty five years live in Holliston Mass. and have two daughters. Aimee is a high school teacher and Kelly is in her second year of nursing.