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What is the relationship between vulnerability and strength?
FAMILY PORTRAIT: JERRY STARKE
When I was little, Grandpa Starke
was like a giant oak tree that came to life.
He weathered a lifetime of storms
a Great Depression
a heinous war
the death of his child
losses that would break
A lesser man
He knew profound loss
yet never let his heart harden
There was nothing rigid about him.
He offered himself to the forces of fate
and the will of God.
He knew vulnerability
and how to bend with the wind.
He wore the scars.
He never broke.
Grandma always had a long list
of chores and dreams.
I doubt he ever had a list of his own.
Grandpa didn’t blame or balk
he just worked on what life needed from him.
He never hurried.
He never worried.
When things went wrong
small or existential
he spoke his acceptance out loud
It was his mantra
“Yah, well,” he’d say
then put on his boots
and get back to the work of life.
He was always slowly flowing forward.
He was never stuck in grief or regret.
If you held his hand
he would take you with him.
Wherever he went
adventure waited.
He looked hard and saw the wonder in life
He helped you see it too.
Like the oak tree, Grandpa let the storms
shape him into something resilient
His true strength was in his roots.
He didn’t fight the soil
He embraced it
Trusted it
Grew
Grandpa Starke was a paradox
of strength and surrender.
How lucky am I
to have been loved
by a giant oak tree
that came to life?