September 5, 1998

I want you to meet my friend, Jerry Pope.

Jerry is one of the few people that I am in constant awe of. You see, Jerry has this knack of amazing me on a regular basis. I don't mean to put him up on a pedestal and if Jerry reads this, he wouldn't feel too comfortable about that either simply because that's the way he is.  Jerry is a nice guy who has more energy than I'd ever hope to have. He water ski's, plays tennis (and can quite handily put a "butt-whuppin'" on yours' truly...) he rides his bike about 15 miles a day, swims,  and is a business man. Jerry, to say the least, is a busy guy.

I met Jerry about 8 years ago when I first moved to Tuscaloosa. I had to photograph him for a tennis tournament and I found his cooperative nature unusual in a world of rushed assignments and deadlines. Jerry was on time, took my directions well and as a result, we shot a good photo that day.

Time and time again I ran into Jerry and over the years, we became friends- something that I'm very proud to tell you too. Jerry is one of those people that I think about when I remember that old lesson that my parents and teachers told me over the years about surrounding yourself with good people- Jerry is just the guy that they were talking about.

I remember him inviting my wife and I over to his house on the 4th of July. It was a little over a month and a half before we got married and was the first time that my wife met him. She took to him immediately and told me afterwards that I was lucky that she met me first because she'd be going out with Jerry if she'd met him sooner. And while this type of comment may not sit well with some people, I understood what she meant when she said it. She too thought he was pretty extraordinary. I'll also never forget the fireworks that night because we were on his boat and watched them from Lake Tuscaloosa. The added shimmer of the water gave the pyrotechnics a special glow that's only enhanced when you share it with those special people in your life.

We invited Jerry to the wedding and even though there were 400 people there, we felt his absence but understood that he's  busy and that things sometimes don't work out quite like you plan them. Jerry you see, is an expert in this area.

He went to the University of Alabama and graduated. Jerry immediately went to work for Humana hospitals as a controller and seemed to be moving up the corporate ladder. Jerry was transferred from smaller hospitals to bigger ones and seemed headed for the upper stratosphere of the Humana corporate system. But all that changed when Jerry has a severe accident. Because of that accident and complications that followed while he was being treated by the doctors, Jerry lost the use of his legs. You see, my good friend Jerry Pope is in a wheelchair.

I need to tell you too that Jerry is a real-life celebrity- Jerry has the world record for endurance water skiing. He skied continuously for 100 kilometers, which for a wheelchair athlete, is a world record.

I remember meeting with him at the Morrison's Cafeteria here in Tuscaloosa a few years back for lunch and he told me then about his plan. I remember being excited about it not so much for him, but for me knowing someone who was going to do something so cool. Gee, a real world record- and I was hearing about it in advance. Jerry had asked me to shoot the photos for him and I was terribly disappointed when I couldn't. I had just started my job at McAbee and couldn't get the time off during the morning to shoot the event. I thought about it all day and had wondered how things went. On the news that night, I learned that Jerry had indeed broken the record.

Now, one of the things that I promised myself about this web site was that I wouldn't use it for my own personal causes- well, things can change over a year and on a recent tennis outing with Jerry, he told me about his trying to get a program with the local Parks and Recreation board (called P.A.R.A.) and the local regional medical center to assist him in getting an exercise/physical activity program for the physically challenged children in west Alabama. I was immediately enthusiastic about it and couldn't believe what I was being told afterwards. Jerry it seems, went to the local parks and recreation board and was given the typical lip service over his idea.

"Oh, that's a really great idea- we'll take it up in conference..."

And of course, that's the end of it. Jerry, not being one to give up so easily, requested a meeting with the new director of PARA and had a scheduled meeting that the director was a "no-show" for. He also approached Druid City Hospital, which is the regional medical center here in West Alabama and was given a similarly cold response. I just can't understand this.

The problems with PARA don't end there either. Recently, Jerry called to sign up for a beginner level tennis clinic ( which, I can personally attest to- Jerry ain't a beginner at tennis...). When he made his call, Jerry requested to sign up for the clinic. The voice on the other end of the phone said that his name sounded familiar and Jerry had explained that he was a wheelchair player. There was a pause on the phone and the voice on the other end of the phone told Jerry that he thought that the class was full, but he'd check and call him back. Three calls back to PARA and several days later, Jerry still has not gotten a response to his initial inquirery about the class and has not, infact, gotten any kind of return phone call from the PARA folks. Jerry, being the person that he is, takes it all in stride. I just can't understand this. As a tax payer here in Tuscaloosa, I would rather drive on an older, less repaired road or maybe do without some of the other services that we have from our local governments then to have children who through no fault of their own, can't play like other kids their age. There's something profoundly wrong with a society that doesn't have compassion for their children. And as much as I love living in this area, I'm ashamed that our local governments and major hospitals have given such a worth while program little if any interest. 

This isn't an issue of "Political Correctness" either. This is simply making a choice as a society about what's important to us. In my mind, every child needs the opportunity to be a child- and part of that is having the experience of  childhood play and  fun. Since we here in Tuscaloosa have no programs like this (The closest one is in Birmingham, which is about 50 miles away) it's a prudent investment in the quality of life for those around us.

Since this promotes a healthy lifestyle and a life long habit of exercise, I can't see a down side to this. This initial investment will pay dividends in lower overall health care costs while promoting personal growth for not only those children, but for everyone else who is associated with the program- everyone wins. So, I'm asking for an answer here- why won't anyone in the governments here in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama listen? It staggers my mind.

I don't have the answers.  Maybe it should be incorporated into the school systems, maybe not. I'm not a politician and my idea is that this should be a community program. It's something that kids can go to at any time of the day and enjoy regardless of income or anything else. If your a child with a disability and you want to play and have some fun- the doors will always be open.

As I said, I don't have all of the answers, but in my heart, I know what's the right thing to do. And in a time that the country as a whole is prosperous, why can we not set the money aside for this kind of a program? The sad truth is that this type of community project is becoming more and more scarce. The University of Alabama today ended a program that assisted the mentally handicapped in learning real life skills that allow them to live an independent life by working in a job and living on their own. Now, members of the program are being transferred to other programs- some that lack in the basic tools and administration to really help these people.

It's been said many times and in many different ways that our society will be judged by the compassion that we show those in need. I see a real need that's not being filled here and being honest, I'm angry about it. We as a community can do better than this.

Give them hell, Jerry Pope.

Mark Lent

September 5, 1998

Odds and Ends...

I've had several people write to me and ask about my sister, Jackie. I wrote in an earlier journal about finding out that my sister had a tumor. Since then, she is doing excellent and the doctors have found that the tumor was very slow growing and had been there for a very long time- so long that her spine actually grew around it. It was also composed of non-cancerous cells. I thank God daily for this. She is expected to make a full recovery.

My wife and I recently found out that she is pregnant. The due date is March 20th and as of now, we don't know if it's a boy or a girl (she's 11 weeks- which is still too early to tell the sex by ultrasound). We recently went to the doctors for her monthly visit and they did an ultrasound. So, here is the first official family photo of Tanner (if it's a boy, we'll have a middle name of Robert, after daddy...if it's a girl, a middle name of Camille, after my wife's cousin who died 2 years ago) Lent. We are thrilled and I will from time to time write an update about the babies progress.

I recently had a very good experience with Olympus cameras' digital imaging folks. I recently acquired an Olympus D600L digital camera for my work and had had some problems downloading the shot files to my Dell computer. I called the dealer, B&H Photo in New York City and was immediately given an "800" number for Olympus. Not only did I get a very quick response, but the gentlemen that I spoke to was actually, GASP! nice...In a matter of minutes, he assisted me in getting to the root of the problem, a port with too many other thingys attached to use the camera, so it was a matter of using the 2nd port on my computer. Since then, the camera and software have worked flawlessly. I really like this little camera too and would recommend it to anyone who wants to get into digital cheaply ($850). For some samples, read the journal entry on "CityFest", which was shot with the D600L...

Have a great week.

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