Broken Big Gene

There once was a man named Big Gene. He stood 6’3'’ and weighed over 300 lbs. Gene was an all-state football player. He was a lineman of course and he was heading to Indiana University on a full scholarship to play football in the mid-1940s. He was known and the field as being a mean block setter and able to move faster than anyone his size.

The summer before his freshman year at IU, Gene headed to Oklahoma to make some hard-earned money in the oil fields. Being that Big Gene could pick up and move massive equipment that usually takes two men, he was tasked with a lot of tough jobs. Gene had worked tough farm jobs growing up. He was happy to be able to make almost double the money he would on a farm and save it for college. He was dreaming about playing in the big stadium and his mother coming to watch his home games. Most of all, he was dreaming about the life he would build with a college degree. No more farm work, no more oil fields, no more beating up his body to make his way in life.

On the last week of his job in the oil fields, Gene went to pick up a large knuckle for a drill rig. It weighed nearly as much as him. As he lifted and positioned it, he felt his back buckle. Something tore and he was in a massive amount of pain. He grunted and winced, but didn’t drop the knuckle. He held it until the other roughneck finished bolting it onto the drill. Gene walked off and sat down. A rare thing for Gene, to have to sit still. He was in a tremendous amount of pain and when he got up to catch a ride back to the worker's camp, he hobbled. Something was wrong. Not just pain, but the function of his back had been compromised.

Gene finished his work week, but he shied away from picking up anything heavy. He moved slowly and gingerly. Football training was set to start in less than two weeks at IU. He went home to Evansville for a few days. He rested and ate his mother’s cooking. She could tell he was in pain, but she was not convincing him to not head up to Bloomington to start football.

It was hot and humid in Bloomington when football started. Gene was eager to meet with his new coach. Coach Lowe recruited him personally halfway through his senior year of high school. They had several phone calls throughout the summer. Gene however never told Coach Lowe about his back injury. He didn’t want to risk losing his scholarship before he even started. Besides, he had always healed quickly. This pain should go away soon enough.

The first couple of days went by fast. It was mostly getting equipment, meeting the team, and some basic drills. So far, so good. On day three, it was time to start lining up and doing real plays. Gene, massive as he was, was still not the biggest man on the field. The defensive tackle he lined against was nearly three inches taller than Gene and definitely heavier. He needed to prove a point that he could handle this behemoth of an opponent. Gene went full tilt every play, even though his back was raging in pain.

The fourth day of practice came. As Gene hobbled into the locker room, Coach Lowe paused him with a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Gene, let’s go chat in my office.” Lowe and the other coaches could see Gene was injured. The team doctor came out later that day and deemed him unable to play. The coaches offered for Gene to be a team manager, but his scholarship would be reduced for the role. Being that he could barely afford to be at college in the first place, Gene politely declined the offer.

Gene moved back in with his widowed mother and his siblings that were still living in his childhood home. Gene’s father died when he was eight years old. His father was an engineer of a locomotive that had malfunctioned and stalled. The furnace had caught fire and Gene’s father went to try to help his coworker escape the flames. As he was pulling his friend from the train, the furnace exploded. Killing them both. Gene would grow up with no father. His mother, scrappy and savvy, would end up creating several small businesses to support her children. From sewing services, pressing services, and other side hustles. Sometimes employing other single mothers and their kids.

Gene took the streets looking for help wanted signs and he found a job as a clerk at the Penny Can market. Gene had a variety of jobs as a youth. His first job might be the riskiest of all. Growing up in a shady area of the city, he was just a few streets over from the alley where prostitutes frequented to find their next John. Most of the prostitutes usually had a side hustle bottling up moonshine to sell along with their services. Their problem was finding enough small bottles that they could refill with shine. Gene at ten years old was given some sound advice from his oldest sister, Valada, that these ladies would pay you a penny for each bottle you brought back to them. Off to work Gene went. He would spend his free time roaming the streets, pulling empty bottles from underneath passed-out drunks on the streets, from sloppy alleys, and from the back porches of the fancier houses down by the riverfront. So working at the market was a joy for him compared to snaking bottles from drunks, tilling fields, or being a roughneck. He saw the same customers each week. He greeted them with his big smile and said their name as they walked in. He had almost a photographic memory when it came to names.

One particular customer needed Gene’s height more than others. Mary Alice was not even five feet with shoes on. She worked down the street from the Penny Can at her father's construction company. A sharp-dressed and articulate young lady. She had graduated from Ohio State with a Masters's in English and came home to help her father run his company. It only took Gene a good dozen visits or so before he realized Mary Alice didn’t always want something from the top shelf. Gene started to meet Mary Alice for walks in the evening. They would stroll along the sidewalks of downtown Evansville and take in the magnificent view of the Ohio River. The same river where they would always live near their whole marriage in a small town called Newburgh a few miles east of Evansville.

Mary Alice’s father had won a property in Newburgh with a lucky hand of poker. The property had 100 acres, a small A-frame house, a watering pond, and a barn. Her father never really thought much of the property, but it made for a great first home for the young couple. Mary Alice’s father passed away soon after she and Gene married. Her mother Georgia moved in with the couple after his death.

Gene, Mary Alice, and her mother converted the poker winnings shack into a home. They started a small orchard with peach and apple trees. They created a half-acre garden that would end up producing asparagus whether you asked it to or not for the next 40 years. And a row of blackberry bushes, that would produce a lovely bushel for any neighbor that stopped by in mid-July.

Being only a hundred acres, the profits of the crops sold from the fields were only enough to cover the taxes for the homestead. Mary Alice was busy raising three kids and not able to work. Gene in order to make ends meet drove an oil truck for his main job, drove a delivery truck for Double Cola at night, and then moonlighted delivering beer kegs for a local brewery. His back would still flare up and cause him trouble, but this was the work he knew he was built for. He would find time to kiss his kids good night, pray with Mary Alice, and sometimes sleep.

In the late fall of 1955, Gene sat out to prepare the fields for the winter. He pulled a plow behind the tractor that would put the leftover corn stalks into the ground. This would help enrich the soil for next year’s soybean crops he would plant. The sun was setting. Gene’s goal was to keep working until he could barely see the barn. That was his cue to start the slow drive back on his old tractor. On his last round, his back right tire started to spin and not get traction. He had hit a muddy rut caused by the underground springs that ran under the property. He switched gears and tried to back up. This caused the plow to jackknife a bit and put the whole contraption in a bind.

Gene pulled the four-prong wrench off the back of the tractor and knelt down next to the tire. He needed to loosen the bolts on the wheel in order to get it out of the rut. His knees slipped as tried to torque the wrench. His big muscle-bound frame pushed with all the power he had. The bolt suddenly went loose, but Gene’s momentum was too much. He spun his body with so much force, he broke his own back. Crushing his vertebrate.

Mary Alice hadn’t seen Gene or heard the tractor and the sun had already set. This wasn’t a good sign. She had Georgia watch the three little ones and she grabbed a flashlight. She at the time was pregnant with a fourth baby and was starting to show. She slid on her barn boots and walked out into the dark fields calling for her husband. She didn’t hear anything in the top 40 acres. She carefully walked down the slope to the more vast 60 acres below the tree line. She screamed Gene’s name.

“Babe,” Gene called back.

“Where are you hunny?” Mary Alice replied as she started to cry in relief.

“Down here,” Gene said in a defeated voice.

“Keep talking. I can’t see you.” Mary Alice called out eagerly.

“Here, I am laying here.” Gene’s voice faded.

Mary Alice roamed the uneven fields. Holding up the flashlight that would give her a line of sight of 20 feet or less. She kept calling. Suddenly a large hand grabbed her boot. Gene was lying covered in mud. He had been crawling on his elbows trying to get home.

“Babe, what did you do?” Mary Alice asked as she sat down in the mud next to him and she pulled his head into her lap. Sobbing, she tried to understand what he had hurt. She saw no blood. Gene, in shock, couldn’t speak. She didn’t want to leave him there in the mud, but she needed to get help. She kissed him and tore off the bottom part of her gown and laid it under his head. She didn’t have much time. She ran back to the house in the dark. Tripping on the ruts of the field. She was frantic and sobbing.

Georgia heard Mary Alice screaming as she got close to the house. Georgia called for an ambulance. She asked the operator to make a party line and she called all the neighbors near their farm. She started to relay what was happening. Mary Alice went back to the field to find Gene again. She stood next to his body waving her flashlight.

A few minutes later, a few men came walking up the long drive to the house. Carrying lanterns. More showed up and Georgia told them the direction where Mary Alice was in the field. The men made a makeshift stretcher from some boards next to the barn and headed out to find her and Gene.

As they carried Big Gene up the slope to the house, the ambulance’s single revolving light started to throw a temporary view of the men carrying Gene. He was so heavy and broken. The men had to be slow and meticulous with their steps. Mary Alice followed at the end of the stretcher, holding Gene’s face and talking to him.

A few days later Gene woke up in a hospital bed. He looked over to see Mary Alice sitting with a bible open in her lap but she was sound asleep. His oldest sister, Valada, was standing to his other side.

“She hasn’t left your side,” Valada said as she looked at Mary Alice.

“What’s happened to me?” Gene asked.

“Well, you work too hard. It’s always been your problem. I guess I am the one to blame. Sending you down to collect shine bottles for the pretty ladies.” Valada said with a smile. Gene laughed but instantly felt immense pain in his back.

“Oh, I need to watch the jokes. Brother, you broke your back.”

“Can I walk?”

“They don’t know yet. They believe your spinal cord is damaged but not severed. They said your muscles actually saved it from being completely demolished.”

“Does Georgia have kids?”

“Don’t worry. Georgia, The Millers, The Crabtrees, and god knows who else is taking care of the kids. There has been a steady flow of food and neighbors at the farm. They are fine.”

“What am I going to do?” Gene asked as he put his massive hand over his face. He started to cry.

Mary Alice woke up to the sound of Gene getting upset. She leaned toward him and hugged his arm and held his face. Staring at him. “Hi, hunny. God has a plan for us. I know it. You know it.”

Valada left the room and came back a few minutes later with a doctor in tow.

“Gene, I’m Dr. Stearn. Are you able to talk?”

Dr. Stearn explained to Gene that he would heal. It would take weeks of traction and staying put in a hospital bed. The doctor explained to him that he could never do hard manual labor again. If he did, he could sever his spine for good. Gene’s heart sank. First, he lost his dreams of playing college football. Now, he couldn’t even provide for his family. The oil truck required him to lift heavy hoses and fittings. No more Double Cola bottle deliveries. No more kegs for the brewery. No more working the fields. Gene felt hopeless.

As Gene lay there for weeks in treatment, he passed the time reading the bible. Something that he would do with Mary Alice, but usually at night until he passed out. He dove into Psalms for most of these days while in pain. He repeated this line from the 31st over and over:

“In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me. Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me.”

Doctor Stearn started to learn more and more about Gene. So did the other doctors on the floor. Gene’s big frame was no match compared to his big heart for strangers and his ability to learn. Even though he lay strapped to a bed and rotated into awkward positions to help his back have less pressure, he would greet every nurse, every doctor, every patient, and even the patient’s visitors by name. He constantly was inquiring about people’s lives and their backstories. This brought him joy and some relief as he waited to heal.

However, in between the greetings and smiles, Gene was depressed and anxious. He didn’t see how his body would ever provide for his family again.

Nearly four weeks had gone by, and Dr. Stearn and his team had Gene up and doing rehab work. He could walk, but it would take time for him to walk at any speed. “Everything must be done slower than you think.” Gene was told by a young doctor that was a resident under Dr. Stearn.

One night, Dr. Stearn was heading out of the hospital and he heard Gene speaking in his room. He strolled past to see if Mary Alice or Valada was there to get updates on his progress. He found Gene sitting up in his chair with his hands on his walker. Preparing to stand on his own.

“Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue” Gene was repeating. Dr. Stearn started to walk into the room to tell Gene to stop. But he was in awe and frozen. Gene wasn’t trying to leave. He was repeatedly standing up, getting his balance, and sitting back down. It was the same basic exercise Stearns's team was getting Gene to work on to strengthen his back. Stearn quietly announced he was there watching.

“Hey, doc Stearn. I’m busted huh?” Gene said with a sweat-drenched face.

“Not as busted as we thought.” Doc Stearn Replied, “What were you saying when I walked in?”

“It is part of Psalms 31”

“Why 31?”

“I have been laying here for weeks. Looking for answers. Crying like I never had. I have read all of Paul’s letters, and I have revisited the Gospels. But, when in doubt, I turn to whatever the day of the month it is and read the Psalm that matches it. Well on New Year's Eve, this one stuck with me.” Gene smiled.

“You’re a strong man Gene. No doubt. But your strength isn’t in this big body that you have beaten to hell and back.”

“Where is it then?”

“It’s in your heart.” Doctor Stearn replied.

“And how does that help my family?” Gene replied frustrated.

“I am not sure yet. But, it helps me already. Have a good night Gene. And do not try to walk out of here.” as Dr. Stearn pointed at him with his clipboard.

“No promises doc.” Gene smiled as he stood up one more time with a mighty grunt.

Another week went by, and Mary Alice’s belly was getting bigger every time she came to see Gene. She and Georgia had been getting so much support from the neighbors that Gene was in disbelief.

“And so what did they do with the fields?”

“The Millers planted all the soy seed already. They came down the day after they finished their fields and tackled ours. The boys watched them and begged to ride with him. I let Brett go, but Kyle is too wild so he had to stay and watch from the yard.”

“How much will we owe them?” Gene asked.

“Hunny, they refused to even let me ask the question. They just simply asked if their daughter Faye could get English tutoring from me throughout the year. That was an easy yes for me.”

“And how are you feeling about me? I am worthless.” Gene said

“The man that would crawl home with a broken back to come to kiss his family goodnight. Worthless?” She started to cry. “If you weren’t still injured, I would smack you into tomorrow for talking about my husband that way.” She tried to smile through what she said and wipe away her tears.

They heard a knock on the door frame. They turned to see Dr. Stearn and his resident.

“Oh good, I was hoping to catch you here Mary Alice.” Doctor Stearn said.

“What’s the latest doc? I am heading home?” Gene asked.

“Yes, but we have some major guardrails for you big man. Mary Alice, can you help us hold him to them?” Doctor Stearn asked.

“I will try my best, he is as stubborn as I am mean, so it will be a toss-up.” Mary Alice replied.

“The biggest issue we need to cover is work for Gene.” Doctor Stearn

Gene started to adjust his body in his bed because was preparing for even more bad news.

“We have a good friend here at the hospital and their company maintains the building and grounds. They are hiring for a building inspector and we have put in a word for you. And they are ready to get you started when you can walk for more than 30 minutes without pain.”

“When do they want to interview me?” Gene asked.

“They don’t need to. You have already said hello to them and greeted them several times over the past month. Their mother was staying down the hall and recovering from a broken hip. You know Miss Baker?” Doctor Stearn asked.

“You mean Barbara? She is a feisty lady! I was happy she got to go home, but I was missing her stopping by to harass me.” Gene replied.

“Yes her daughter, Stacy, has been on the board for the hospital for the past several years. She led the fundraising for this wing years ago. She, with a reference check from her mother, was more than happy to hire you. Her office will be sending you employment papers to your house.” Doctor Stearn replied.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Gene replied.

“We have something else to tell you.” Doctor Stearn looked at his resident and nodded his head. The resident handed Gene a large folder with a logo for “Evansville College”.

“What’s this?” Gene asked.

“The staff. Well, we would like to see our patients not come back here. No offense.” He paused as Gene flipped open the folder. “We have some ties to the college. We also started a small pool of donations. Gene, there’s enough for you to get a degree.” Doctor Stearn finished.

“A degree?” Gene said confused. Mary Alice looked and praised the Lord and started to cry.

“Yes, Gene. The job with the Bakers will be fine, but there’s so much you can do. More you can do. I have seen it, the whole staff has seen it” Doctor Stearn

Gene started to cry. He coughed on purpose to muffle his cry and wiped his face. He slid his leg off the bed and took a slow step onto the floor. He slid his other leg down and put both feet on the ground. He put his big hands on the side of the bed. He pushed and stood up. He took a few solid big steps toward Doctor Stearn. He stared at him. And then hugged him. He reached his arm out and scooped up Mary Alice into the hug. He then reached out and grabbed the resident too. They all stood there embraced. Healing. Crying.

Mary Alice soon gave birth to her fourth child, Amy. A nice addition to balance the kids to be even boys and girls. Brett, Kyle, Shawn, and Amy.

Gene would go on to get an associate's degree in Human Resources from Evansville College and land a job working for a manufacturing company called Potter and Brumfield. That company had a continuous education program for employees and Gene would go on to get a bachelor's and master's degree.

The Lord would bless Mary Alice and Gene with a total of six kids. Another balanced addition of Matthew and Amanda.

Gene’s gratitude for his neighbors, the hospital staff, and his loving wife would never be forgotten. He went on to volunteer for any place where he could make an impact. Spreading the Word and being a bold man of faith. Even into his retirement, Gene spent time supporting the volunteer fire department in Trigg County, Kentucky. Helping those who lost homes or property because of fires or tornadoes. He was a prison minister for the federal penitentiary in Eddyville, KY. He spent time with inmates on death row. Reading the bible to some of the most damned criminals in the state. Gene kept a supply of the King James Bible wrapped in plastic in the trunk of his car. He would stop for any stranger that had car trouble, and offer to help. Once he knew they were safely on their way, he would hand them a bible.

Most remember him as Big Gene. I remember him as Big Granddad. His story of grit, faith, and love has always inspired me.

When we are broken and can’t see what is in store for us next, it’s hard to understand what God has planned for us. For Gene, an injury to stop his college dreams was hard, but a broken back and the lack of means to provide, how could this be in God’s plans? Maybe we can see it this way, God is an archer with a mighty bow. He has you in His quiver and you are His arrow. He places us on the bow at birth and draws us back on the string with might. He is always with us. He knows exactly when we will be launched forward. As for the arrow, we don’t know the timing. But the further He pulls back the string and bends the power of the bow, the further we will be launched and fly. And we will fly in His Glory.