Living the Impossible Dream

Carl Stewart (1952-2013)

His continued pursuit of excellence in the face of the impossible dream is what I knew most of Carl.

{Originally posted on www.CompanioningTheSacredJourney.com
Blog 5/18/2013}

A year and a half ago at the Lake County Symphony's rehearsal performance for Christmas, 2011, Carl Stewart, who had recently been diagnosed with cancer, gave a performance that sent chills up my spine. Uncontrollable tears poured down my cheeks as I knew of his recent diagnosis. I had to leave my seat and compose myself in the foyer.

Carl's voice was one of the strongest and powerful voices I have ever heard. On that day at the symphony, he had come back from the edge of death, which is what led to the diagnosis. He put his whole body into Oh Holy Night  and it was an incredulous performance, to say the least. While it was a rehearsal performance, he held nothing back. Instead, the sweat and shaking that comes from a welling up and explosion of energy from deep in the soul--that place that carries the body beyond its normal performance level--was where this song emerged from.

From what i could tell every time I saw Carl after that, this was where he lived his life. I don't know if Carl could hold back in anything, though I really didn't know him that well. What I did know is what I saw over the next year and a half as Carl battled strong and hard with cancer. The ebb and flow of his energy and health was a telling story of his determined will to spend the greatest length and most valuable time with his beloved family.

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