A Tribute to a Servant
When I was a teenager in Pensacola, Florida, I was a Brooklyn Dodger fan. I think I was the only Dodger fan in a town filled with Yankee fans. At any rate, my heroes were giants, such as Duke Snyder, Pewee Reece, Roy Campanella, Don Drysdale, Don Newcombe, etc. Since those days, long ago, I have become a believer in Jesus Christ. I am still a fair-weather Dodger fan, but these days I have a different standard for a “hero,” or better yet “role model.” Here is a classic example.
As the result of an automobile accident, Roy Campanella was paralyzed from the shoulders down. In 1963, a lady name Roxie married him anyway. Thirty years later, Roy died. Roxie spent 30 years in devotion to her wheel-chair bound husband!
When she died in 2004, Bill Plaschke, a Los Angeles Times Sports writer said, “She loved him not for his ability to throw out a runner, or steal a base, or even pick up a cup of coffee. She loved him not because he could win her a championship or make her a million or even pick her a flower. She loved him for, well, him. It was a love that endured countless attendants, numerous obstacles, a painful existence in days before disability access.” She rolled his wheelchair down the steps and over grass to the batter’s cage. She pushed his wheelchair across thick carpet and through narrow doorways. Roxie carried the famous fifties Dodger catcher.
There’s more. Plaschke wrote, “For the duration of their marriage, he sat front and center, while she labored behind him. He was the one everyone sought for autographs. She was the one who helped put his quivering hand to the paper. He was the famous one who posed. She was the unknown one who pushed.”
Roy died in 1993. A week after he died, Don Drysdale died. Don’s widow, Anne, said “Roxie helped me through many hard times. She was my rock.”
Years later, Anne said she could not help but wonder, if perhaps Roxie was relieved that Roy had left this world. Roxie began to cry. She replied, “Of course not. I miss him. I miss him every day. He was never a burden, never once. How can anyone you love ever be a burden?” Anne confessed, “I too was crying, morning my pathetic ignorance.”
Bill Plaschke concluded his tribute, with these words, “How much Roxie Campanella taught us. How much she could teach us still.”
I read the story of Roxie, not as a Dodger fan, but as a disciple of Jesus Christ. He said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45). As Anne said, “Roxie was a role model for us all.”
Roxie was an example of a behind-the-scenes servant, who served out of love. We who know the Great Lover and Servant, should love Him enough to sacrificially serve Him by serving others. Lovingly pushing a wheelchair for thirty years is a good example.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 5/25/2004
As the result of an automobile accident, Roy Campanella was paralyzed from the shoulders down. In 1963, a lady name Roxie married him anyway. Thirty years later, Roy died. Roxie spent 30 years in devotion to her wheel-chair bound husband!
When she died in 2004, Bill Plaschke, a Los Angeles Times Sports writer said, “She loved him not for his ability to throw out a runner, or steal a base, or even pick up a cup of coffee. She loved him not because he could win her a championship or make her a million or even pick her a flower. She loved him for, well, him. It was a love that endured countless attendants, numerous obstacles, a painful existence in days before disability access.” She rolled his wheelchair down the steps and over grass to the batter’s cage. She pushed his wheelchair across thick carpet and through narrow doorways. Roxie carried the famous fifties Dodger catcher.
There’s more. Plaschke wrote, “For the duration of their marriage, he sat front and center, while she labored behind him. He was the one everyone sought for autographs. She was the one who helped put his quivering hand to the paper. He was the famous one who posed. She was the unknown one who pushed.”
Roy died in 1993. A week after he died, Don Drysdale died. Don’s widow, Anne, said “Roxie helped me through many hard times. She was my rock.”
Years later, Anne said she could not help but wonder, if perhaps Roxie was relieved that Roy had left this world. Roxie began to cry. She replied, “Of course not. I miss him. I miss him every day. He was never a burden, never once. How can anyone you love ever be a burden?” Anne confessed, “I too was crying, morning my pathetic ignorance.”
Bill Plaschke concluded his tribute, with these words, “How much Roxie Campanella taught us. How much she could teach us still.”
I read the story of Roxie, not as a Dodger fan, but as a disciple of Jesus Christ. He said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45). As Anne said, “Roxie was a role model for us all.”
Roxie was an example of a behind-the-scenes servant, who served out of love. We who know the Great Lover and Servant, should love Him enough to sacrificially serve Him by serving others. Lovingly pushing a wheelchair for thirty years is a good example.
© G. Michael Cocoris, 5/25/2004