“A positive attitude is over half the battle.”
This is the advice that Roberson employee David Grindstaff would give to others in a similar predicament to his own battles. Grindstaff is currently fighting cancer while simultaneously managing to uphold the motto he exhibits daily.
The journey for Grindstaff, his wife Charity, and their 4-year-old daughter Kensi has taken much longer than originally expected. Grindstaff’s initial diagnosis had estimated that he would be cancer-free by December 2012. They soon realized this was not going to be the case. Recent CAT scans showed that after initial success, his cancer was back, stronger than last year despite his undergoing major surgery in January. Grindstaff is currently receiving intensive chemotherapy and will receive two bone marrow transplants at the Indiana University Cancer Center in Indianapolis.
“I’ve gone through major surgery, had extensive blood clots, and should not have made it through. But being here, at this place, there’s still a reason for it. You can be in the midst of bad times, but if you stay strong, you’ll learn what faith really is. God is faithful and never fails his promises to us: to everybody, not just to a few people. Whoever calls upon him and seeks his healing can have that,” Grindstaff said.
Charity Grindstaff feels that the hardest part of the process has been making sure that their daughter knows what is going on while at the same time not allowing her to be scared.
“Creating a stable environment for Kensi is our number one goal. Her little mind just doesn’t understand things that adults do, and we’re trying so hard to explain it to her in a way that makes her feel stable,” Charity Grindstaff said.
David feels the same way.
“We hear a lot of people talk about cancer, and ‘I’m going to fight this.’ But what gets me though this is wanting to get better for my families’ sake and for the people around me, too. I do want to fight,” he said.
Besides his job at Roberson, Grindstaff also works as a preacher at Glady Baptist Church. In order to help raise money to pay for extremely expensive medical treatment, teachers, students, and friends have conducted numerous fundraisers.
Coach Adam Ballard has organized the Shave for Dave fundraiser, in which numerous male teachers have agreed to shave their heads if they raise a designated amount of money. Each teacher set the price to be raised, anywhere from $50- $200.
“I’d heard of and seen groups do this in support of someone receiving chemotherapy, and we figured that it would be a good way to earn some money and show our support,” Ballard said.
Ballard reported that over 20 teachers have participated in the event. If all of the monetary quotas are met, he estimates that $1,200 will be raised.
Many Roberson students have also participated in shaving their heads, although they did not do it to raise money. Sophomore Bentley Cook was one of the people decided to cut off his hair.
“I was scared before I shaved my head- I had more hair than anyone else! But I did it to support Mr. Grindstaff and to help him feel better during his fight against cancer,” Cook said.
The ROTC class also sponsored a car wash on May 17 in which all donations were given to the Grindstaff family. Col. Tom Bell was excited for the event.
“One of ROTC’s core values is putting service before self. Every day we talk about putting other people’s needs before our own. Having one of our own in the community going through a really trying time, it’s a great opportunity to put that into action,” Bell said.
Glady Baptist, where Grindstaff preaches, also set up fundraisers to assist. An account on GoFundMe.com has been created where people can donate as much as they can.
Brooke Crawford Rickman created the page and has currently raised $3,530 towards the goal of $10,000. Rickman has known David all of her life and was eager to help.
“David is my second cousin, and his wife is my best friend and business partner. I had it in my heart to help them some way, and the Lord led me to create the GoFundMe.com page. They are the most selfless people, are so loving and giving to everyone, and go above the call of Christians to serve others,” Rickman said.
According to Grindstaff, he is astonished by the out pour of support.
“It would take 10 years to express our feelings of gratitude. We’re blown away by it, and pray that when I get better from all of this, we can give back to the people that have given us all of this, and that we can give back in some small way all of the greatness that has been shown. It’s unbelievable. It shows how people can come together to bear one another up or support each other in a difficult situation,” Grindstaff said.
Being away from Roberson is difficult for Grindstaff, who loves being connected to the students, faculty, and staff.
“I want to come back and be a part of this school. I don’t deserve this kindness- it’s wonderful. You don’t know how bad I want to sweep floors and take trash out again. It seems a bit crazy, but the interaction with students really means a lot to me. I never expected my work here to bring me that, but the most rewarding part of my job is to maybe put a smile on someone’s face. I want to show them that someone really does care about them,” Grindstaff said.
Junior Kassi Butcher is sad that Grindstaff is not at school anymore, and is glad to help out with fundraising efforts.
“He’s always been there for us, so now we’re here for him,” Butcher said.
Despite these challenges, the Grindstaff family feels incredibly lucky about where their lives have ended up.
“Compared to other people’s problems, we have no problems. We could be suffering something like the loss of our child right now, and compared to others, we have everything… sometimes we fail to forget that God has a divine plan for all of us. And it’s not always exactly what we want, but his plans and his purposes are always for us. God sees the whole picture, and we only see a teeny-tiny puzzle piece of our lives, but God sees it all and can put together the whole picture into something beautiful,” Charity Grindstaff said.
David agrees.
“Your outlook will determine your outcome. I read that one day, and that has stuck with me so tremendously. I’ll have good and bad days, but there is always somebody who is in worse shape than you are. If you truly look around, it’s not hard to find,” he said.
This is the advice that Roberson employee David Grindstaff would give to others in a similar predicament to his own battles. Grindstaff is currently fighting cancer while simultaneously managing to uphold the motto he exhibits daily.
The journey for Grindstaff, his wife Charity, and their 4-year-old daughter Kensi has taken much longer than originally expected. Grindstaff’s initial diagnosis had estimated that he would be cancer-free by December 2012. They soon realized this was not going to be the case. Recent CAT scans showed that after initial success, his cancer was back, stronger than last year despite his undergoing major surgery in January. Grindstaff is currently receiving intensive chemotherapy and will receive two bone marrow transplants at the Indiana University Cancer Center in Indianapolis.
“I’ve gone through major surgery, had extensive blood clots, and should not have made it through. But being here, at this place, there’s still a reason for it. You can be in the midst of bad times, but if you stay strong, you’ll learn what faith really is. God is faithful and never fails his promises to us: to everybody, not just to a few people. Whoever calls upon him and seeks his healing can have that,” Grindstaff said.
Charity Grindstaff feels that the hardest part of the process has been making sure that their daughter knows what is going on while at the same time not allowing her to be scared.
“Creating a stable environment for Kensi is our number one goal. Her little mind just doesn’t understand things that adults do, and we’re trying so hard to explain it to her in a way that makes her feel stable,” Charity Grindstaff said.
David feels the same way.
“We hear a lot of people talk about cancer, and ‘I’m going to fight this.’ But what gets me though this is wanting to get better for my families’ sake and for the people around me, too. I do want to fight,” he said.
Besides his job at Roberson, Grindstaff also works as a preacher at Glady Baptist Church. In order to help raise money to pay for extremely expensive medical treatment, teachers, students, and friends have conducted numerous fundraisers.
Coach Adam Ballard has organized the Shave for Dave fundraiser, in which numerous male teachers have agreed to shave their heads if they raise a designated amount of money. Each teacher set the price to be raised, anywhere from $50- $200.
“I’d heard of and seen groups do this in support of someone receiving chemotherapy, and we figured that it would be a good way to earn some money and show our support,” Ballard said.
Ballard reported that over 20 teachers have participated in the event. If all of the monetary quotas are met, he estimates that $1,200 will be raised.
Many Roberson students have also participated in shaving their heads, although they did not do it to raise money. Sophomore Bentley Cook was one of the people decided to cut off his hair.
“I was scared before I shaved my head- I had more hair than anyone else! But I did it to support Mr. Grindstaff and to help him feel better during his fight against cancer,” Cook said.
The ROTC class also sponsored a car wash on May 17 in which all donations were given to the Grindstaff family. Col. Tom Bell was excited for the event.
“One of ROTC’s core values is putting service before self. Every day we talk about putting other people’s needs before our own. Having one of our own in the community going through a really trying time, it’s a great opportunity to put that into action,” Bell said.
Glady Baptist, where Grindstaff preaches, also set up fundraisers to assist. An account on GoFundMe.com has been created where people can donate as much as they can.
Brooke Crawford Rickman created the page and has currently raised $3,530 towards the goal of $10,000. Rickman has known David all of her life and was eager to help.
“David is my second cousin, and his wife is my best friend and business partner. I had it in my heart to help them some way, and the Lord led me to create the GoFundMe.com page. They are the most selfless people, are so loving and giving to everyone, and go above the call of Christians to serve others,” Rickman said.
According to Grindstaff, he is astonished by the out pour of support.
“It would take 10 years to express our feelings of gratitude. We’re blown away by it, and pray that when I get better from all of this, we can give back to the people that have given us all of this, and that we can give back in some small way all of the greatness that has been shown. It’s unbelievable. It shows how people can come together to bear one another up or support each other in a difficult situation,” Grindstaff said.
Being away from Roberson is difficult for Grindstaff, who loves being connected to the students, faculty, and staff.
“I want to come back and be a part of this school. I don’t deserve this kindness- it’s wonderful. You don’t know how bad I want to sweep floors and take trash out again. It seems a bit crazy, but the interaction with students really means a lot to me. I never expected my work here to bring me that, but the most rewarding part of my job is to maybe put a smile on someone’s face. I want to show them that someone really does care about them,” Grindstaff said.
Junior Kassi Butcher is sad that Grindstaff is not at school anymore, and is glad to help out with fundraising efforts.
“He’s always been there for us, so now we’re here for him,” Butcher said.
Despite these challenges, the Grindstaff family feels incredibly lucky about where their lives have ended up.
“Compared to other people’s problems, we have no problems. We could be suffering something like the loss of our child right now, and compared to others, we have everything… sometimes we fail to forget that God has a divine plan for all of us. And it’s not always exactly what we want, but his plans and his purposes are always for us. God sees the whole picture, and we only see a teeny-tiny puzzle piece of our lives, but God sees it all and can put together the whole picture into something beautiful,” Charity Grindstaff said.
David agrees.
“Your outlook will determine your outcome. I read that one day, and that has stuck with me so tremendously. I’ll have good and bad days, but there is always somebody who is in worse shape than you are. If you truly look around, it’s not hard to find,” he said.