Bracken Growing Through
Originally uploaded by David Reece
I was born Joseph Clifton. My LDS family and heritage was evident. My father told me I was named after the prophet Joseph Smith. As the youngest of six children my designation, "the baby", outlived by far my childhood years. And, my family. Father was a National Guard chaplain and Mother, a nurse. I learned much about charity from my parents. My older brother, Gary Wayne, was born mentally and physically handicapped. My mother and father spent much of their life caring for him; however, I was not resentful for receiving less attention.
I learned to be independent.
During my junior high years Gary passed away. For some death may be a captivity, but for him it was freedom from a body and mind bound by circumstance.
I grew.
I started my first day of work at sixteen. I learned how dependent I was. But I enjoyed life. Far into high school I looked back with contentment on the many years I had spent developing acting, singing, dancing, academic, and other life skills. The blazing light of the stage was that year's zenith. My mother passed away my senior year.
It was dark, yet I grew.
I set my sights on the future. I became interested in pharmacy school, served a mission in Venezuela, and started working on my degree at BYU. Not only did I grow, but I developed new dimensions, new perspectives. I learned to love science, interact with people, and be self-sustaining. My love was not only for subjects and facts, but for people, places, feelings. A love of life.
And still I grow. (Like a plant putting forth new leaves to catch the Son’s light.)
