Sir Isaac Newton is credited with this famous phrase: “If I have seen farther, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”  The more I think about this statement the more I realize that my entire life has been one continuous experience of "standing on the shoulders of giants."
    As I look back to those early years of my life, I am reminded of those times when I was a child trying to watch the annual Christmas parade; however, I could not see the parade because of all the people who were crowed in front of me blocking my line of vision.  When my father realized that I couldn't see the passing parade he would reach down and lift me up onto his shoulders so that I could see what was happening.  One by one, the giants--the "tall ones" of the human race--have reached down and lifted me up so that I could more clearly see the great passing "parade of life."  By lifting me up to this new vantage point (and perspective) atop their shoulders they have not only enabled me to see more clearly, but they have also explained important things to me as the "parade of life" passed before my eyes.
     In my childhood and adolescence at Milan, Tennessee, there were giants who lifted me up so that I could see.  Some of these special giants were: Ozella Cantrell, my first grade teacher, who by teaching me to read and write, opened the door into the world of learning; Mark Casey and Charles Cobb, band directors, who introduced me to some of the great musical composers of the world and enabled me to appreciate music; Edith Holt, my seventh and eighth grade teacher, who guided me through the terrain of prose and poetry and introduced me to many of the masters of literature; Cecil Cruce who led me into the world of mathematics, and on the first day of class pointed to the great Greek and Roman giants of mathematics; Clay Morris Chandler who taught me about the marvels and miracles of science (and the giants in that field); and Wiley Wheeler who stood before my American History class during my senior year and described giants in European and American History.  There were other giants like my school superintendent, Jimmy Thomas, and my principal, Milton Mayo--giants of character and integrity--who instilled in me an appreciation for such important values as honesty, discipline, gratitude, respect, honor, patience, and love.  These teachers were giants who picked me up, put me on their shoulders, and enabled me to see other giants who were waiting to meet me and enlarge my world.
     As a boy I would go to the local library and the librarian, Mildred Fields, would always send me away with an armload of enriching and challenging books about such giants as George Washington,  Thomas Edison, Albert Schweitzer, or the Wright Brothers.  Floyd Burrow, the city mayor during my childhood years, was always reminding me that our community stood on the shoulders of those giants who had founded our town.  Dr. Jimmy Fields, who saw me through all the childhood diseases, was constantly reminding me of how much we owe to giants in the field of medicine who have given us medications and treatments which are now saving and protecting us from certain dreaded diseases which had once been fatal.
    Each Sunday I had the privilege of listening to my boyhood pastor, Reverend Blake Warren,  preach powerful Biblical sermons in which he would introduce me to the giants in the Scripture and the history of our faith.  His preaching and teaching were reinforced by devoted Sunday School teachers such as Pearl Cunningham, Jeanette Burns, Minnie Taylor, and Charlie Fields.  All of them helped me come to know the giants of faith, especially Jesus Christ, my Savior.
     It was not until many years later that I realized that I had grown up in a "land of giants!"   All of us have!  We have been lifted up onto the shoulders of giants--great persons who stand tall and from whose shoulders we have seen the "land of the giants."  They all wanted us to see further than they had been able to see.  And I ask: Where would I--or any of us--be if they had not picked us up, put us on their shoulders, and enabled us to see?
    Every individual who grew up in the Milan community could tell his/her own story in regard to this.  Each could name specific persons and who helped to shape their lives.  Yes, each of us has had the privilege of standing on the shoulders of giants, and when we begin to realize this important truth it makes us deeply appreciative of those special persons who played such an important role in our childhood and adolescence.  (DHL)