“BE ALL YOU CAN BE”

On Mother’s Day of 2011, instead of going to a restaurant for a big meal, we went to a brunch at a famous professor’s house and met a special young man named Victor. He is amazing and we had an unforgettable day.

Victor is 25 years old. He was born in Nigeria. In his early childhood, Victor developed a benign tumor caused by neurofibromatosis (NF) that significantly deformed his face. Doctors tried unsuccessfully efforts to treat him. After 15 years of painful and challenging life in Nigeria, Victor luckily met kind Catholic missionary nuns. They assisted him to come to the U. S for a facial reconstruction. Victor suffered lots of pain as a result of six major surgeries to remove the NF tumor and rebuild his facial features.

While he was undergoing treatments, Victor never gave up his studies. He applied for college and did not let his illness prevent him from pursuing his dreams and goals. At times, he had surgical procedures in the middle of a semester, but he conquered both his courses and his treatment. God always blesses HIS children who are faithful. After this beautiful spring, Victor graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry.

Just two days before this party, at the graduation ceremony, Victor made an excited speech. “A popular phrase from the United States Army is, BE ALL YOU CAN BE! That is what I try to do every day, and I believe that is why I am here today” “Nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it and work hard to achieve it; my presence here today truly illustrates that point. As we set foot in the real world to pursue our respective careers, I implore you to BE ALL YOUR CAN BE.” His speech was 3 minutes long, but the large crowd stood and clapped for over 30 seconds; it was the only standing ovation of the evening.

The other exciting moment was at the airport. Victor hadn't seen his mom Mary for 10 years since he went to the USA., University administrators worked to arrange for Mary to get a last minute visa so she could come to this special graduation. They raised money for a plane ticket and enlisted the help of US Sen. Finally a visa for Mary came through on Tuesday morning. She left on Wednesday and flew overnight. Just an hour before the ceremony, she stood in the front of her son. Mom and son hugged and cried for five minutes at the airport, wiped away each other’s tears. “Happy, happy, happy” is all she could say. The crying son said, “I wasn’t sure if I was going to see her ever again. Words cannot express how I feel.” Mary could stay for only 11 days to visit her son.

I didn’t know how to express my feeling too. While watching the smiling Victor and his happy mom, my eyes got wet. Compared to Victor, what sufferings we had were just a piece of cake. When he was undergoing surgeries, we may have been enjoying a party, a shopping, or having a nice dinner. We may have been complaining about a small issue or wasting time watching TV, playing games, and chatting on web. We have so much and so many opportunities but we take them for granted; should we need to cherish them? In this world, Victor is a real hero. He not only overcame his illness, but he also successfully completed college to become a useful person to society.

My 14 year old son got silent too during the party. Previously, when we took him to all kinds of parties, his favorite time was eating, and then he liked to say “I ‘m bored!” Now he asked to have his pictures taken with Victor. He paid attention and listened to the speech from the department chair. He even talked to several professors about Victor and himself.

The sunshine in May was warm and bright. Flowers were blooming in the yard. We stood with Victor and enjoyed this wonderful moment. The food was really delicious, but for my family, it was a more remarkable special day.