June, 2015

YEARS AGO, MY SON, BRENT WROTE THIS PAPER WHEN HE WAS ATTENDING THE UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX.  THIS WARMS MY HEART WHENEVER I READ IT.....

Reflection Paper of Bill Ashpole

Recently, I was asked to write a reflection paper describing my family members with challenges and disabilities.   The thought of my father, Bill Ashpole, never came up because I never think of him as having a disability.  He has had polio since age 16 and this has changed all facets of his life.  After receiving polio, he is in the hospital dealing with his initial challenges.  Bill's timeline of academics and how he can continue his education has to be adjusted because of his stay in the hospital and his energy.   The way Bill Ashpole interacts with his peers is at times a direct reflection of how they see him.  Even though Bill has this disability, he has chosen to live his life above his challenges.  One cannot cover every detail of this great man's life, but I will highlight some of the aspects that pertain to him who chooses to overcome his challenges.   

A polio epidemic went through Wells High School in November 1945, and the twenty-fifth of 25 students infected is Bill Ashpole.  Polio is life threatening for him and the doctor tells his father that Bill has a fifty-fifty chance to live.  The first two weeks in the hospital, he is in the intensive care where he is unable to keep any food in his stomach.  He is in the hospital, Sister Kenny Institute, which specialized in polio patients.  Ultimately, they believe that healing would come from God.  After being in the hospital for a couple of months, it is suggested that surgery would not be done, instead they try hot packs.  The hot packs were supposed to loosen the muscles, but it made them tighten up.  At this point, the hospital is unsure if he will walk again.  Bill is bed stricken for his entire five and a half month stay and then released from the hospital to go home.

Because of Bill's hospital stay he missed a whole year of school.  The following school year he attends a full schedule of classes redoing his sophomore year.  He gets around school with crutches that have extensions to his elbows.  Bill passes out a couple of times at school in the afternoon due to exhaustion.  His typing teacher sees him faint and arranges for him to attend half days until he graduates from school at age 19.  Later he attends North Central Bible College for one semester.  Bill thinks he has enough Bible education so he stops going to school.  He gets married and on his honeymoon, he starts preaching at his first church.  After a year, he figures out that he needs more Bible education.  He goes back to North Central Bible College for 3 more years.  At that time, they did not have a four-year degree, so he completed all of the available college courses offered.  Soon after age 40, his college that he attended offers a four-year degree.  He does 17 credit hours of home study courses, so Bill receives his BA in Theology at age 45. 

Bill Ashpole's interaction with his peers varies based on how people choose to look at his disability.  In high school, some of the other students would take away his crutches and tease him.  As a preacher, one of the more negative comments was, you're a man of faith, and you can't preach the gospel, because you are not wholly healed.  A preacher from Minnesota eluded that Bill looked like a cowboy from the movies that had a limp.  The majority of people look to him as a leader, a pastor, a mentor, and a friend that they choose not to ponder on the disability.

Bill Ashpole chooses to live above his challenges.  He goes by the motto that his mother had on a plaque.  "Only one life will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last (Anonymous)."  Even though his challenges take a toll on his energy and abilities, he still chooses to rise above them.  Bill has been a pastor for more than 50 years.  During the last 24 years of preaching he was the Assistant Superintendent of the Assemblies of God for the state of Hawaii.  He has been on several trips to the islands of the Pacific and Atlantic as a Missionary, never allowing his disability to slow him down. 

Most of the time, I did not notice Bill's challenges.  He endured a lot since he got polio and how it affected his education.   Bill stands strong when dealing with other people and with life's challenges. I don't know Bill Ashpole as the man who has a disability, I just know him as Dad.

 

Thanks Brent for sharing your heartfelt thoughts.

Have a Happy Father's Day everyone! - Pastor Bill Ashpole