Don't Give Up - 2008

If You can’t Fall You Will Never Learn to Ride Earl Plato

A lesson of life. Polio, a dreadful disease of the 1930’s, and I had it.
The result? Some atrophy on my right side. A right foot arch drawn up and shortened. Worst of all a permanent imbalance. Before polio I climbed tall trees and high up our old barn. Fearless, they said. Now at age 10 I would have to learn to ride all over. I found it was easier to balance on the bike by pushing off and moving than to balance a motionless bike. I fell again and again. I tried again and again. There were some hard falls and scrapes on arms and knees. Sometimes brother Ed would give me a push. I needed to have motion. Gary Stanley once wrote, “It was kind of trying to convince a baby bird that once out of its nest it would do what it never had done - fly. That kind of thinking needed a push to get started!” Finally I could ride but with many a fall. I conquered the skill and with continued practice I learned to compensate and ride no handed. What a thrill of accomplishment!
Life can be a matter of falls but with determination and a faith in a caring God you can get up and try again.
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