There Is No Job More Important Than Parenting

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There Is No Job More Important Than Parenting - by Benjamin Carson

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mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Dr. Benjamin Carson is director of pediatric

neurosurgery at Johns

color:blue;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Hopkins

mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"> Children's Center. His expertise includes

separating conjoined twins and doing brain surgery to control seizures. A

scholarship fund

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9.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:blue;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:

normal">Carson

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9.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:blue;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:

normal"> founded has helped some 1,700 students through college. His mother is

retired and lives with Carson and his family.

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“My

story is really my mother's story -- a woman with little formal education or

worldly goods who used her position as a parent to change the lives of many

people.”

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"Comic Sans MS";color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">The

simplest way to say it is this: I believe in my mother.

"Comic Sans MS";color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">My

belief began when I was just a kid. I dreamed of becoming a doctor.

"Comic Sans MS";color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">My

mother was a domestic. Through her work, she observed that successful people

spent a lot more time reading than they did watching television. She announced

that my brother and I could only watch two to three pre-selected TV programs

during the week. With our free time, we had to read two books each from the

color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Detroit

color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"> Public Library and

submit to her written book reports. She would mark them up with check marks and

highlights. Years later we realized her marks were a ruse. My mother was

illiterate; she had only received a third-grade education.

"Comic Sans MS";color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Although

we had no money, between the covers of those books, I could go anywhere, do

anything and be anybody.

"Comic Sans MS";color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">When

I entered high school I was an A-student, but not for long. I wanted the fancy

clothes. I wanted to hang out with the guys. I went from being an A-student to

a B-student to a C-student, but I didn't care. I was getting the high fives and

the low fives and the pats on the back. I was cool.

"Comic Sans MS";color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">One

night my mother came home from working her multiple jobs and I complained about

not having enough Italian knit shirts. She said, "Okay, I'll give you all

the money I make this week scrubbing floors and cleaning bathrooms, and you can

buy the family food and pay the bills. With everything left over, you can have

all the Italian knit shirts you want."

"Comic Sans MS";color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">I was

very pleased with that arrangement but once I got through allocating money,

there was nothing left. I realized my mother was a financial genius to be able

to keep a roof over our heads and any kind of food on the table, much less buy

clothes.

"Comic Sans MS";color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">I

also realized that immediate gratification wasn't going to get me anywhere.

Success required intellectual preparation.

"Comic Sans MS";color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">I

went back to my studies and became an A-student again, and eventually I

fulfilled my dream and I became a doctor.

"Comic Sans MS";color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Over

the years my mother's steadfast faith in God has inspired me, particularly when

I had to perform extremely difficult surgical procedures or when I found myself

faced with my own medical scare.

"Comic Sans MS";color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">A few

years ago I discovered I had a very aggressive form of prostate cancer; I was

told it might have spread to my spine. My mother was steadfast in her faith in

God. She never worried. She said that God was not through with me yet; there

was no way that this was going to be a major problem. The abnormality in my

spine turned out to be benign; I was able to have surgery and am cured.

"Comic Sans MS";color:green;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">My

story is really my mother's story -- a woman with little formal education or

worldly goods who used her position as a parent to change the lives of many

people around the globe. There is no job more important than parenting. This I

believe

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mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:blue;font-weight:bold;mso-bidi-font-weight:

normal">Jai sairam

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http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4950531

 

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