10, Going on 92

Today is my dad's 92nd birthday.  It was a nice, low-key gala.  A few relatives came over, along with a couple of friends, and so there were two cakes.  But all the candles got blown out fine.

My dad was a doctor for over 50 years.  He loved being a doctor.  Absolutely loved it.  I remember when he had quadruple bipass surgery, he said that (other than weekends and normal vacations), it was the first time he'd missed a day of work in 39 years.

There are many people who can say that they always knew what they wanted to do when they grew up.  My father is one of the few who can actually prove it.  And not just prove it, but do so in a way that shows that everything wonderful he did with his life is merely something that he said he would always do, and he lived up to his word.

You see, when my father was only 10 years old, he wrote a poem.  His father (my grandfather) was so impressed with it, that he had it printed up in a little pamphlet that he gave out.  I still have a copy.  The words stand the core of his whole life.

On the front, it says – “Written by Edward I. Elisberg.  June – 1931.”

Open up the pamphlet, and this is what you get inside:  

I Want to Be a Doctor

By Edward I Elisberg 

I want to be a Doctor

   to get over runnin’ away

From all the dreadful accidents

   that can happen in a day

To give when someone’s in distress

   A kind and helping hand

To help the sick and wounded

   stay upon this land

To assure when hope is dying

   that everything’s alright

That all is going splendid

  he’ll be better in a night.

I don’t want to be a doctor

    on account of pretty nurses

I don’t want to be a doctor

  Just because of rich men’s purse’s

And the thought from my mind is far

   To be a doctor just for the D-R

I want to be a Doctor

   to keep all people livin’

I want to be a Doctor

   so I’m always always givin’

But the real reason from the beginning

  in my mind has stood

I want to be a Doctor

  To do the world some good.

Edward I. Elisberg

Age 10