It was not until I was a senior in high school that I found out all that my
dad had done for me. It would be several more years before I realized the
lesson that I learned from what he did. This man I call Dad lived an example
in front of me and I learned from him when he didn't even know he was
teaching.

I had experienced ear infections and problems from a very young age. It was
learned that I could not feel pain in my left ear and therefore no one knew
there was infection until drainage or high fever exposed the problem. I was
constantly visiting one doctor or another, mostly an Ear, Nose and Throat
specialist. The hearing in my left ear was gradually deteriorating and this
caused my right ear to decline in hearing level also. By this time, I had
had a hole in my eardrum for a couple of years. It should have been able to
heal on it's own but the humid climate we lived in at the time would not
allow that healing to take hold. The doctor believed that the only solution
was for me to be in a dryer, more arid climate.

At this time my father had been working as a truck driver for a major oil
company in the Buffalo, N.Y. area. Dad asked for and received a transfer to
Gallup, New Mexico. I would be a senior in high school when I learned the 
full story behind this move. I was 7 years old when this took place.

We began to see an ENT specialist in Albuquerque, about 2 to 3 hours drive
from Gallup. His name is Dr. Kilgore. We went to his office for regular
visits and after almost 2 years he believed the only repair for my eardrum
was surgery. This surgery took place in the summer of 1968 and turned out
not to be a simple eardrum repair. When Dr. Kilgore got into the ear for the
repair he discovered that the skin that should have grown over the hole in
the eardrum and healed it had grown through the hole and was attaching
itself to everything behind the eardrum. At this point he decided to proceed
with extensive repairs and what was supposed to be a simple 30 minute
surgery turned into a 3 1/2 hour operation to repair and reconstruct the
inside of my ear. This remarkable surgery was all done through the hole in
my ear canal with a microscope, the first time this had been done. The
surgery was a great success! My hearing was mostly restored and Dr. Kilgore
wrote about this and articles were published in medical journals.

None of this would have been possible if my father had not asked for and
gotten that transfer from N.Y. to N. Mex. When I was a senior my fathers job
in Albuquerque was being eliminated and he had to apply for a transfer to
some other city in order to stay with the oil company. For him, it came down
to a choice between Phoenix, AR or Houston, TX. I went to his office one day
to plead with him to take Phoenix and that is when the full story of what he
did for me came out.

The move to Phoenix would have been an across the board move and the move to
Houston was quite a step up for him. When I begged him to take the Phoenix
job he told me, "I did it for you once girl, I can't do it again." I had no
idea what he meant. He explained then, that when I was 7 and he had asked
for a transfer to the west, somewhere where the climate was dryer for my
sake. He was offered a job as plant manager if he would stay in N.Y. He told
them no because his daughter needed the dryer climate to get better. I never
knew how much he and my mother had given up, to save my hearing. Yes, he
remained with the same company and retired after 30 years and several more
transfers but he could have been in management many years ago. Because of
what he did for me, he never achieved management status. My Dad gave up
everything for me, career, family, friends and security to gamble that my
ears would get better. They did, but what a price!

In all the years of my growing up I witnessed my dad giving of his time and
any resources he had available to help anyone that came within his scope to
be able to do so. My earthly father showed me by his example how to love
completely, and so I understand now the lesson my dad taught me about my
Heavenly Father. I now, as an adult, have a small shadow of a picture of
what the Father in Heaven did for each one of us on earth. He gave up
everything! God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son! My
earthly father showed me by his example how to love completely. Father God 
loves us completely! That is the lesson I learned from my Dad.

ARLENE R. BROWN