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Care
Partner of the Month Marjorie S. Gibson Gary, IN Marjorie S. Gibson was one of the original founders of The Gifted and Talented Program in the United States. Author, professor and mother, she was an avid supporter of her own children, and children all over the world until her death in 1983. Marjorie rushed to Minnesota to remain at the bedside of her youngest child, Lynn, who, at age 23 suffered the dramatic effects of a stroke. Marjorie put her life on hold. She placed a cot next to her daughter’s bed and lived in the hospital for over a month. She was determined to oversee every aspect of her daughter’s healing from the inside out. She braided her hair, read her poems from Langston Hughes and Maya Angelou, and even brought in a manicurist at bedside to keep her adult child’s spirits up. Her unwavering faith sustained her entire family, close friends and nurses – even when the doctors delivered the news “your daughter probably won’t make it through the night.” Marjorie used the same determination that it took for her to raise two daughters and educate them in private schools, to educate herself about all aspects of the diagnosis. She called on her same childhood courage that she used to help integrate Little Rock schools, to motivate her daughter to keep fighting. And Marjorie utilized the same faith that it took to stand in the gap for a frightened child with a fatal diagnosis, to gently multi-task her professional and personal responsibilities. Some days she would leave the hospital only to send her clothes to the cleaners or purchase new gowns for her daughter. Other days, Marjorie would be the ultimate patient advocate, coordinating pain meds to rehabilitative measures. Marjorie believed firmly that we are the masters of our own fates and the captains of our own ships. She left her daughter with strong beliefs that love of self, compassion for others, and faith that all things are possible, makes a championship life. In her words, “In life, you may get knocked down, but always get right back up because the ground is no place for a champion.”  |
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