Inspiration on Aisle 9
A few months ago, I had a health scare that forced me to face my own mortality. As I maneuvered through various specialists and endured being poked and prodded on the regular, a few new prescriptions were added to my daily arsenal, and it was determined that I would be okay. I told Dr. Dan (Nichols - my doctor of 52 years) that I was sick and tired of seeing “ologists.”
During that medical journey I developed a major case of writer’s block. No matter how hard I tried, I just could not find my mojo. I struggled to find inspiration. Then one day last week I found it, in Wal Mart of all places.
As I trudged through the crowded grocery aisles trying to find those items I only buy once a year for holiday cooking, a young man brushed by me. “Scuse me ma’am,” he said cheerfully as he bounced by with a huge grin on his face. As I watched him scurry off, I looked down to see – not one prosthetic leg, but two.
That young man was in a better mood than anyone else in the store and was breezing through the crowd like nobody’s business. I felt that old familiar spark deep in my core – INSPIRATION! It took a minute, but I finally caught up to him. He wasn’t a veteran, as I had expected, but his story is still awesome.
After graduating from Queen City High School in 2004, Jewel Williams took a job with Louisiana-based Merrick Construction. The company was hired to clean up the old Gibson Recycling plant just outside of Atlanta.
Jewel was studying for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Exam (ASVAB) at the time. He was looking forward to enlisting in the Army. His dreams of being a soldier were dashed when a freak accident at work took both of his legs.
“It was rough at first,” Jewel recalled. “It was about a month before I could even sit in a wheelchair.”
While in the hospital, Jewel met many other amputees – some of whom offered encouragement. Once he was fitted with his first prosthetics, he adapted quickly.
“I’ve got all kinds of feet now,” he said, laughing. “I’ve got a running set, a swimming set – different feet for different stuff.”
Although he’s on Social Security Disability, he doesn’t consider himself handicapped and works a little here and there to supplement his small income. He is a single father of two sons, ages four and six. His parents, Dorothy and Jewel Williams, Sr., are close enough to help when it’s needed.
When asked what advice he could give to other people faced with adversity at a young age, Jewel did not hesitate. “Stay positive and keep moving,” he said. “You have to keep motivated. It doesn’t stop your life.”