'I am back'
2007-08-29
Source: Argus Leader
In a long career in public service, Sen. Tim Johnson might never have a finer moment.
email this
print this
del.icio.us
digg this
rss feedHe stood up from a wheelchair and with his wife, Barbara, at his side looked out over a crowd of about 1,000. With his familiar tight, rueful grin almost drooping off his face, and struggling to keep from slurring words, he said: "You guys are a sight for sore eyes. It's good to be home in South Dakota."
Those two simple sentences from a man struggling to clearly enunciate them were a point of connection between a public official and his public that put the standard for such things into the stratosphere.
Johnson's "Thank You, South Dakota" rally Tuesday at the convention center had been managed almost to the point of make-believe realism that commonly colors political events.
The wheelchair ramp leading to the podium was hidden behind a blue curtain.
A banner dominated the stage with the message "Thank You South Dakota! Your Patience and Support Have Given Me Strength in My Recovery." In small lettering in the corner, though, it read "paid for and authorized by Tim Johnson for South Dakota, Inc." Many of the hand-lettered signs with exuberant messages of support floating over the crowd in the rows close to the stage first were seen by the people waving them when a young man associated with the event handed out the placards as the crowd surged in.
But when Johnson's son, Brooks, pushed his father through a gap in the curtain and across the stage to the podium, Johnson immediately set another tone. In 15 minutes of prepared remarks, Johnson powerfully conveyed how much it meant to him to be back in South Dakota, and he framed that within the context of someone who had gained some brutally hard-won perspective in the almost nine months since he suffered a brain hemorrhage that required emergency surgery and that left him trying to reclaim his speech and mobility.
"This has been a long journey home - a journey that has taken longer than some people have liked, and I count myself among them," he said. "In football, good progress on offense is often described as 3 yards and a cloud of dust. For me, it seems good progress has been an inch and a cloud of dust. I've learned to appreciate each inch, each milestone."
He spoke of second chances after the brain injury that almost killed him.
"My commitment to you for my second chance at life is to make you and all South Dakotans the beneficiary of that gift."
Johnson liberally seasoned his address with self-deprecating humor.
"Before I get too far along in my remarks, it must already be clear to you that my speech is not 100 percent. My doctors tell me that it will get there, and in fact, if you ask Barb, she will say that I am already talking too much. So let me ask one thing of you tonight. If you bear with me in this, I will promise you that when my speech is back to normal, I will not act like a typical politician and overuse the gift," he said.
Johnson's son, Brendan, introduced his father. "This is the homecoming he dreamed of," he told the crowd. He also recounted how soon after performing surgery, doctors assured Johnson's family that the man they knew had survived "his thought processes, his memory, his dry sense of humor." A low chuckle rumbled through the room at that last phrase.
"He has to learn to move again. He has to teach himself to talk," Johnson's son said. He called it "a long, hard process," one his mother characterized "as not always pretty but beautiful."
Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin was the rally's master of ceremonies. She called Johnson a close friend and professional mentor, said his "brave journey was an inspiration to the entire state." She told the crowd the tide of good wishes directed toward Johnson "was like a strong South Dakota wind pushing him forward."
Her voice quavered when she said "today in this celebration in Sioux Falls, an entire state welcomes you home."
Gov. Mike Rounds also picked up on that theme. He talked about the banner spread over 10 tables at the state Capitol when the Legislature was in session this year and the four days people stopped by to sign it and pen encouraging messages to Johnson. It was characteristic of the extended neighborhood that makes up South Dakota, Rounds said.
"Today, let's celebrate. Our colleague, Tim, is coming home, coming home to the neighborhood," he said.
Read More...
