I am proud of Morgan Love. That is all I wanted to say today.

I wish I could tell you how proud.

As the 19-year-old young woman returns to college classes this week; as teenagers herd across campus like droves of cattle; as students all over the nation engage in the long-cherished tradition of not reading the syllabus; I just want to say how proud I am to know Morgan Love.

This young woman has been on an operating table, laid open, more times than anyone can count. She has lived out the majority of the past year in hospitals.

And yet, whenever you see her, she looks like she just discovered teeth.

Although her circumstances have been dire, she is unbelievably positive. Frighteningly positive, actually. Almost as though Morgan lives in an alternate reality than the rest of us.

Namely, because whenever she receives good news from a doctor—ANY tiny morsel of good news—she runs with it. She internalizes it. She holds

it in her heart. She is an optimist of the highest degree.

As a result, the doctors are always surprised at her progress. She is constantly proving them wrong.

They said she might never walk again. A few weeks later, she got out of her wheelchair. Now, she’s jumping on trampolines, going for small hikes, and going snowsledding.

They said she might be paralyzed. She learned how to walk with a brace and eat with one hand.

They said her intestines might never digest food again. Not even liquid food. She got an ice-cream maker for Christmas.

They said she might never lead a normal life. She moved into the dorms at UAB, joined a sorority, and walks to every class.

In fact, that might be what she’s doing now. Walking to class. Maybe she’s got her phone in her hand, like all the other…

I’m on a plane awaiting takeoff. My carry-on bag is above me in the compartment. A compartment which, according to FAA regulations, is slightly too small for everyone’s carry-on bags.

There is an old man behind me trying to force his oversized roller-suitcase into storage by throwing his bodyweight against his luggage like a first-string tackle. But his efforts aren’t working because his carry-on is about the size of a Honda Civic.

But God love him, he’s trying.

A few of us passengers help him out, although we are not strong enough to bend the immutable laws of physics. 

In the process of helping, the old guy and I make friends. I’m guessing he’s mid-eighties. 

“Hi, I’m Art,” he says cheerfully, and I smell nothing but Old Spice. He answers everything with a strong Midwestern “Youbectcha.” 

“I’m from Wisconsin,” he adds.

“I’m from Alabama,” I say. 

He nods. He thumps his chest and starts the conversational ball rolling. “I was married fifty-nine years.”

“Really.”

“Ohyoubetcha.” 

“That’s amazing.” 

“Well, I learned a long time ago that marriage is just an agreement between two adults.

You don’t try to run her life, and you don’t try to run yours.”

We fall silent while the plane achieves liftoff. But not for long. He tells me about his wife.

“She was Korean. Met her when I was in the Air Force. The last thing I thought I’d do is get married, but, hey, I fell in love. She was the prettiest woman you ever saw.”

He goes on to tell me the whole love story. He tells me how he met her when he was a GI, and how he fell for her gentle spirit, her sable hair. He speaks of how she grew up in horrific poverty, of how she was an incurable optimist in the face of loss.

“...And she was smart. Spoke four languages. And when she sang in Korean, it…

I saw the mother and daughter in the hotel breakfast area. They were eating hotel breakfast; that uniquely American fare made of commercial plastic that will turn your bowels into stone. 

Mom was middle-aged. Maybe early fifties. Her daughter was maybe 18. You could tell it was her daughter because of the way she kept rolling her eyes whenever the middle-aged woman opened her mouth. 

“Aren’t you going to eat any fruit?” Mom said. 

Eye roll. “Mom.” 

“Maybe you should go get an apple.” 

“I don’t want fruit this morning.” 

“They’re pretty good apples. I had one.” 

“Mom.” 

The mother smiled. Mom went back to her breakfast. She stabbed her plate absently. 

“Did you finish setting up your dorm room last night?” Mom said, eyes still on the plate. 

“Yeah. We hung colored lights.” 

“What color?”

“Pink.” 

“Where’d you get them?”

“Target. They have great stuff for dorms.” 

Her mom smiled again. 

Mother and daughter favored each other. In many ways, they were almost identical. One of them merely looked a little more tired than the other. 

“Have you activated the credit card I gave you yet?” said Mom. 

“No.” 

“You need to do it

before I leave town.” 

“I will.” 

“You have to do it on your phone, it’s kind of complicated, you need my help?” 

Eye roll. 

“Maybe you should do it now,” said Mom. “While I’m sitting here. In case you need me.” 

“Mom.” 

The girl went back to playing on her phone. The mother was just looking straight at the girl. There was a lot of love in Mom’s eyes. But it was being aimed at a kid who wasn’t paying attention.  

“Do you need me to gas up your car before I leave town?” said Mom. 

“No.” 

“What about the oil? Doesn’t it need to be changed soon?”

The girl shrugged. 

“You have to look at the sticker,” said Mom. “They always write it on…

I was an older college student. Early 30s. Bad at math. A dropout, going back to get his degree. I sat in the back rows, with plumbers and Hooters waitresses. I had fun.

As an older student, most professors were part of my peer group. Many teachers had attended the same wild high-school parties I did. Most of which I can’t remember.

But there was one teacher who was different.

She was older. Past retirement age. She was small. White hair. Skin like tissue paper. And in an era when female professors wore T-shirts, she wore tweed skirts.

Between classes, she smoked Marlboro Lights and read books. I often hung out with her on her breaks, because I liked the way she saw the world.

She introduced me to O. Henry, Jane Austen, and Victor Frankl. The woman loved the written word. She told me to read Robert Frost. Nobody ever told me to read Robert Frost.

Once upon a time, she wanted to be a writer. But being a writer is hard business.

It’s not about skill, or depth of prose. It’s about your marketing department.

So she stuck with teaching.

For one class, we were supposed to write an essay about our hero. I am not an experienced man, I don’t have many heroes. So I chose her. The unassuming woman, who could have been great, but chose to make other people greater.

She chose to teach night classes to raggedy adults with full-time jobs. She chose a life of anonymity. I didn’t know much about her, so I drew on what I knew from her lectures.

She was born in the Dismal ‘30s. Her daddy (“deadie”) walked five miles to a factory to support a big family. She attended school in a two-room schoolhouse. One room was a classroom. One was a bathroom with a broken toilet.

There were no college graduates in her family. But her…

My granddaddy said you can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat a dog. Someone who treats a dog badly, is a bad person. A person who treats a dog with regard and deference is a good egg.

Right now, my wife is holding our blind coonhound, Marigold. She holds our rescue adoptee like a baby. Not like a dog.

Marigold’s face was struck with a blunt object. Her optic nerve scarred over. She lost her vision. The doctor removed one eye. 

“What probably happened,” the vet said, “is that someone paid a lot of money for this hunting dog, but Marigold turned out to be gun shy.” 

Her abuser wasn’t happy about shelling out thousands of bucks for a dog who doesn’t like noise. So he took his frustration out on the animal. He used a hard object. Perhaps the butt of a rifle. 

My wife is softly humming to Marigold. “I love you,” she is quietly singing to the animal.

We’ve had our dog several years now. Life with

a blind dog was tricky at first. Not like having a regular dog at all. When we feed Marigold treats, for example, you have to touch her to let her know you’re near. Then, Marigold simply opens her mouth widely, gyrating her head back and forth. 

“I don’t know where you are,” she’s saying, “but I’m opening my mouth to make it easier for you.”

Marigold’s internal schedule is all screwed up, too, because blind dogs can’t sense light or darkness. So they have no idea what time it is. Sometimes Marigold wakes up at 1 a.m. and starts licking my face. And I start cussing and I say, “Please go back to bed.” Whereupon Marigold barks with glee. Because there is nothing half as fun as 1 a.m.

But, we love this animal. Namely, because we don’t have kids. As a result, my wife…