Our View: Three portraits in courage

It can be all too easy to get bottled up in policies, politics and personalities and miss the amazing ways in which everyday people accomplish greatness.

We have our own examples here in the East County, people whose courage under the fire of life’s arrows are inspiring examples and help us move beyond ourselves to see what is truly important in life.

The Littlejohns
Anthony and Ivette Littlejohn faced the most heart-rending situation that parents can. Their 1-year-old son, Adrian Shawn Littlejohn, had a rare form of cancer. After they battled it with chemotherapy and radiation, the baby died in his mother’s arms in May.

But the Littlejohns did not succumb to despair at the funeral. As Ivette said before it: “We are celebrating Adrian’s life with joy … don’t feel obligated to wear black. We want light in the room to remember Adrian’s wonderful smile.”

The Littlejohns showed those around them how to appreciate every minute with the ones you love because life can sometimes be jarringly short. They chose not be crushed by the harshest circumstances.

The Rev. Alan Martin
In like fashion, the Rev. Alan Martin of Woodland — The Community Church, was diagnosed with cancer.

While he fought the terminal cancer, lost his hair to therapy and endured the pain, he continued serving God in his position as the pastor of worship.

In fact, he did not step down until he died, leading worship on the Sunday before his body surrendered to the disease 11 days later at age 53.

He told another pastor at the church: “Why sit around the house when I could be out there serving the Lord?”

Even in the hospital getting therapy, he prayed for others and ministered to their needs.

He sent a letter to another pastor six days before he died, to be read afterward, that would help guide his family, friends and church for after he was gone. Genuine caring about others.

He showed courage in being faithful to his calling, despite the circumstances he was dealt. Like Job, he did not shake his fist at God, but served the Lord to the end, finishing the race strong.

The Jaworskis
Eleven-year-old Rachel Jaworksi and her parents, Michael and Wendy, remain in a battle.

The day after Christmas, 2009, Rachel collapsed on her bathroom floor with two brain aneurysms and a ruptured arterio-venous malformation. She ended up at All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg for two months.

She lost all of her motor functions and took months of grueling therapy to regain most of them. She can talk, walk, eat and do other basic things. But she has a terribly challenging leftover from the aneurysms and rupture: Rachel has no real short-term memory.

Rachel remembers her life before collapsing, and about the last 10 minutes. But that is it. So after 20 minutes, she has largely forgotten those oldest 10 minutes.

Yet she is still able to learn concepts and graduated from McNeal Elementary School to Nolan Middle School, where she gets extra help from a one-on-one aide.

Her mother says the ordeal has made the family closer and stronger, and being around them reveals ongoing joy in their lives, finding all the positives in a trying situation.