I recently had the joy of visiting with Gloria and her daughter Katie, who is in the final throes of her residency as a physician. I relished the precious time out of her crazy schedule to sit and talk to this young, amazingly bright, and passionate doctor. Imagine my surprise when she said, in no uncertain terms, "I'm really not all that smart." I couldn't believe my ears, and said as much to her. 

With a lilt in her voice that indicated she did not feel bad, nor was she the least bit concerned about the declaration, Katie went on to say that of the three siblings in her family, she was the least academically talented, but that she just worked really hard. As we continued to talk, Katie shared memories of her challenges in the many things she has done, from school to swimming, and how her can-do attitude and work ethic always led to success. When queried further, she shared, "In life, there are plenty of obstacles, but there are always ways around them." 

The statement, coming from this vivacious young woman, affected me so much that I paused our conversation to write it down on the front page of my journal. I wondered out loud how someone so young had developed this deep-rooted attitude. Her mother confirmed that Katie had had that outlook since she was a very young girl.

When prodded, Katie said she felt as though a children's book had clearly paved the way for this outlook on her life. The book? The Little Engine That Could. Her mother laughed out loud as she reminisced about Katie's passion for this book: she knew it by heart at age two, and was keenly aware if a sneaky adult ever tried to skip a page or repetitive paragraph, which was never allowed.  

I continue to reminisce about the conversation whenever I look at Katie's quote in my journal. Each time I do, I cannot help but think about the power of reading aloud to young children—yes, over and over and over and over—and the effect we can have in their lives and in the lives of all the people they touch. Lucky for us, Katie had this experience as a young child, and she will have an amazing effect on many lives in her future, greeting each ailment, illness, and disease with I think I can.

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