One needs Optimism to be able to see a Brighter Future

"one needs optimism to be able to see a brighter future."

Powell Tribune Editorial: Words of wisdom found right in town

by Zac Taylor (3 Jan 2023)

 

There are some people whose stories stick with you.

As I was writing this last week, as another year came to a close, I thought about some of the more memorable moments in the last year as a journalist.

In a little over half a year covering Cody and the rest in Powell, I’ve talked to many people who’ve shared great stories. Honestly, I truly believe everyone has a great story — at least one — to tell.

But the one that sticks with me the most is the story of a Powell man who came to the office just a few days after I started at the Tribune.

Dave Rose came in to share his story of perseverance through being diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer, the medical professionals in Powell and Billings who took care of him, the struggles he went through to see his cancer into remission, the support of his wife by his side. What stuck with me most and still sticks with me, was the optimism he displayed, the power of positive thinking he worked to keep with him at every step of a tough journey.

To be honest, I struggled for the rest of the year trying to figure out how to write his story and do him justice. But how do you do that? I’ve never experienced what he has felt, what he has been through. I cannot comprehend what I would think if I was told I had an aggressive, rare tumor in my brain. I can only hope I’d have the strength of his wife, who told his doctor that her husband would fight, even as Dave himself doubted it.

He credited a neurosurgeon in Billings, Dr Richardson, with setting his mind right, telling him, “When you’re in the hospital, don’t just lay in the hospital bed feeling sorry for yourself. You have got to be strong and you’ve got to be positive.”

What an incredible thing to say to a man in the situation Dave was in. But it was just what he needed. That support, and the support of his family, saw him through.

So, as we make our first steps into 2023, I hope people think of Dave’s message. It’s perseverance, yes, but perseverance with optimism. Yes, there might be a lot going bad in the world today, a lot of division and fear, anger and resentment. But one needs optimism to be able to see a brighter future.

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