Relentlessness – never giving up in the quest for high value, or that is my definition, is applied to military and athletic victories, even to nature’s power, but seldom to love, and less to love of life. Still, we have examples. They humble us.
Helen Keller is iconic, chiefly for her achievements, her capacity to overcome extraordinary handicaps, or let us not use that word, just absence of advantages most of us have, sight and hearing. She lost them at 19 months, to a virus.
Born in 1880, she had as much chance of attending Harvard, writing 14 books, becoming a great communicator, and teaching relentless love – directly or indirectly – as a parakeet has of barking.
Even today, ask yourself: How many would say, “Come, let us learn to read, write, see the unseeable, think deeply, teach that anything can be done!” No, I think not, few families have that faith.
So, here is a little girl, dearly loved, suddenly stripped of gifts most take for granted, seeing – flowers, sunsets, falling snow, her mother’s smile, falling tears and leaves, bird on the wing, lightning – and hearing – music, wind in the leaves, a dog’s bark, cat’s meow, thunder. Sad? Yes, but for Keller, a source of strength.
Those near her saw something, heard something, the unseeing child’s soul, and did not let the echo die. One was Anne Sullivan, who met little Helen at seven.
Anne herself was blind, but never gave up trying. Relentlessly, she fought to regain her sight, and Anne – after countless operations – did, then turned to help others.
Graduating from Perkins School for the Blind, she said: “Duty bids us go forth into active life. Let us go cheerfully, hopefully, and earnestly, and set ourselves to find our especial part. When we have found it, willingly and faithfully perform it; for every obstacle we overcome, every success we achieve tends to bring man closer to God and make life more as He would have it.”
By some fluke – or was it? – she found little Helen. At seven, Helen was frustrated and could not understand words written in her hand. Given a mug, she broke it.
Then came the first miracle: Anne took Helen’s hand in hers, gently poured water into it, then spelled w-a-t-e-r. Helen got it. There began the journey – and 50 years of friendship with Anne.
How did this blind and deaf girl choose to overcome impossible odds, growing into a paragon of can-do, a source of strength for millions, never giving up?
Years on, Helen would write about not giving up, finding support from those who believed in her, and relentless love. Notably, Helen Keller – originally from Alabama – moved to Brunswick, Maine, in 1909, lived there for a time before relocating.
Perhaps thinking of Anne, she wrote: “When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.” That was Helen’s life, and also Anne’s, and how Mainers in her era often lived.
The perennial optimist, working hard to overcome frustrations, Helen wrote: “No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.” True, and yet we forget.
Christian, she searched for light, wrote: “Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.” Always learning, she wrote: “Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.”
Famously, she penned this line: “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” Late in life, looking back, she wrote: “Life is either a great adventure, or it is nothing.”
Helen Keller may be forgiven for wandering into politics, as she felt a need to do what she could for others, and spoke to that inner impulse. Somewhere deep inside, she wanted others to persevere, to know her heart, to believe they could.
“I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is just a touch of yearning at times, but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers.” Mostly, she wanted others to experience what she had, an opportunity.
Today, she would be the optimist she was, one who got forward by perseverance, not government. She was a perpetual doer, no excuses. She reminded us: “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”
Dying in 1968, Helen Keller was never about government or handouts; she was about doing what she could do – having been blessed with relentless love. She worked ceaselessly to pass that gift on. And she did, to you and me today.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor. BobbyforMaine.com
