Saturday, December 7, 2013

The Braveness of Christy Fellon

Way back in 1955 (I looked it up), Kraft Theater carried what I thought at the time was a corny little play. An old man reporting to his job as a guard opens a door and knocks the gun out of the hand of a man attempting a holdup. Someone grabs the gun and the police are called. Though his action was accidental, the police and media credit him as a hero. An award is offered.

At the time I did not think much of the production. I felt it was done very poorly. Back in the days of live dramas they often were not staged very well and I was a blaise youth. But here I am, 5 8 years later, still thinking about it.

Christy, modestly, did not want to accept the acclaim or the reward. "All I was doing was going to work," he told his wife. But she had the wisdom to see it differently. She reminded him of the years he had spent, doing just that, faithfully working and without any acclaim. "You deserve a reward, for this," she said. "You should accept it."

Many years passed before I saw her wisdom in this. I don't remember now if Christy got his reward, but now I see its wider application.

My wife sacrificed a potential career to work in a braille printing house because she felt it was helping people. How many of the faithful are patient drudges whose work is unrecognized, and their labor poorly paid for. Someday they will get their long awaited reward.

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