Onward and Upward

“The man may teach by doing, and not otherwise. If he can

communicate himself he can teach, but not by words. 

He teaches who gives and he learns who receives.”

-        Emerson

It was 5:00PM on Monday afternoon.  He had just topped off his day seeing patients by lifting weights, as was his custom.   He said, “I’m in Los Angeles seeing patients tomorrow and will be back by 4:30PM.  I’ll give you a call.”  This is the way it always was…We saw each other every day, for the most part knew each other’s schedule, but he would end the day by asking me what I had planned for the next day, and let me know what was on the schedule for him.

Just before we parted, we quietly reminded one another how much we appreciated finally working together.  We did this from time to time, the way it is important for friends to express how much they mean to one another, even though they know it in their hearts - words do have meaning. He slipped the strap of his bag over the left shoulder and gently limped to the door – a residual gait the result of a stroke he had almost completely recovered from eight months earlier.  He turned and said, with a twinkle in his eye, what he always said, “Onward and Upward!”

His name was Vert.  Vert Mooney – now there is a name.  Son of Voigt and Naomi originally from Pittsburgh….an orthopedist, the quietest of men, and hardest working person I had ever labored with.  While he was trained in the elite institutions of the Eastern establishment, if you didn’t know what he did for a living, it would be impossible to guess – his affect was that of the most common of folk.

He and I had known each other for better than 20 years, and had collaborated on any number of projects.  We often talked about actually working together, but somehow the stars didn’t align themselves until the spring of 2008.

Come West My Friend

I got a call in February of that year.  It was that familiar voice, you know the kind…the voice you have heard so many times you can’t count, but never tire of.  The voice accompanied so often by affirmation and character – when you hear it, it’s like putting on those favorite tennis shoes that fit like they had been custom made; the voice that expresses earned respect, love, meaning – the feeling almost always unrelated to the content of the conversation…yeah, you know ‘the voice.’

“Ted, this is Vert.” – as if he needed to take those few seconds to identify himself.  He had lost his research coordinator and asked if I might be interested in taking that position.  “Time’s slipping away from us, if we don’t do it now, we may not get it done at all.”  So in June, on the cusp of my sixty-first year, I moved to San Diego, California to be with my friend, my colleague and one of the great human beings I have known.

Habit and Character

If habit leads to character and character to destiny, that would define Vert.  When he was home, he was up every morning before five.  By five, it was a pot of tea by his side and newspaper in hand.  By six, he had devoured both and was off to the shower to get ready for the day.  At 6:25 it was breakfast with Ruth his wife; 6:40 in the car and at his desk by 7AM.  In his 78^th year, this was his routine day in and day out. 

 His workdays were filled with patients, independent case reviews and writing –Vert surely could write.  As a young man, he had taken to the written word.  It served him well in later years, and would make him one of the most prolific orthopedic surgeons that ever lived.  He published hundreds of scientific papers, wrote book chapters, edited textbooks and added an autobiography to the mix…Yes indeed, Vert could write… His writing would lead to speaking engagements and visiting professor invitations all over the planet.

Emerson said, “…do your work…” and dare to do what you can do best.  Doing what you do best…easy to say, but in a world where most of us are confronted with much distraction and the way we appear, rather than the quality of what we do, it is sometimes hard to find what it is that we do best…this was not a problem for my friend Vert.

While his work ethic was impressive, and what he wrote meaningful to the profession he had chosen, it was his example in life that drew me so strongly.  He had a willingness to listen to anything, whether he agreed with it or not; his ready mind to reflect what he did know with the forward possibilities of what yet lay ahead.

What we say or what we do?

There is a great Stephen Sondheim lyric in the Musical “Into the Woods”

Careful the things you say
Children will listen
Careful the things you do
Children will see and learn
Children may not obey, but children will listen
Children will look to you for which way to turn
To learn what to be
Careful before you say "Listen to me"

While these lines are true of children, they are equally true for adults.  We look for consistency; we look for examples of strength and faith, and it is here we are inspired to be better tomorrow than we have been today.

What we do is so much more informative than what we say, for it is in the doing we build faith, learn of character, understand perseverance, find our mentors, develop self-respect and in the end, slowly get a better understanding of who we are.  When what we say matches what we do, that's when it really counts.

Tuesday afternoon the call came…it was not the 4:30PM call I expected.  It was 1:30PM, and it wasn’t him calling to say he was home so we could once again arrange for the day that lay ahead, as was so often the case.   This call was not about tomorrow, but rather a notification of his unexpected death in a car crash, on his way home from seeing patients in Los Angeles.   

"Just before we parted, we quietly reminded one another how much we appreciated finally working together.  We did this from time to time, the way it is important for friends to express how much they mean to one another, even though they know it in their hearts - words do have meaning."  I was then and am now grateful for that gentle exchange - It would be our last....

It was the most common of ends, in this fast paced world, for the most uncommon of men.  He was absolutely right... “Time’s slipping away from us, if we don’t do it now, we may not get it done at all.”  Coming to California by faith, love and a deep respect – even at this time in life – made all the difference in the world.

Thanks my friend…

  

“Onward and upward!”

- ted