Andrew Short needed something after his wife died from bone cancer. A year later, massage helped him work out the pain.
Short’s wife died in 1995 and, a year later, he became a massage therapist. It called to him, for reasons he still can’t quite explain, even if they were many of the same reasons he became a Presbyterian minister.
He still doesn’t know how he made it through school with the grief shadowing him, but he did it. A couple years later, the pain had dulled, and he let it go.
Now, at age 75, he’s a therapist once again after graduating from the Academy of Natural Therapy in downtown Greeley.
He’s happily married once again, retired from ministry and, yes, an old guy with a hip issue and a bit of a heart problem.
But he can’t stay away from the healing power of touch. He believes in prayer, but he also believes in his own power.
“You can pray for someone,” he said, “and I’ll fix it another way. Power is a good thing. It’s good to have it, to deal with it and help others with it. Strange things happen when you touch people.”
Short could sit around all day. It sounds like heaven to some, but that’s Short’s hell. He wrestled in college and did Judo later. His favorite moves in Judo are the arm bar and a choke hold on the carotid artery, which puts an opponent to sleep in a minute or so. Power allows you to help or hurt the body. He prefers to help. His handshake tells you he could do either without much effort.
Cathryn was his first wife, and she was a superwoman, he said, a smart mother with college degrees and a good job and heart. He has two sons and five grandchildren by her. Once he mourned, he dated — he was too much of a people person not to — but he wasn’t sure he wanted to get married. Then he met Edie Gause, an executive with the Presbyterian Church. She was three years younger. He once dated a woman for a while who was 12 years younger than him, and it was fun, but they seemed to live in different eras. They couldn’t even talk about music because they grew up with different bands. It got tiring.
But Gause was from his era. They liked the Presbyterian theology and disliked George Bush, even though both of them lived in Texas.
“We agreed on all the biggies right away,” he said. “We figured we could work out the little things.”
Gause is a superwoman as well, he said.
“I don’t know how I got so lucky to have two of them in my life,” he said.
Part of the reason he took up massage again was to help Gause, who battles thoracic outlet syndrome, a group of disorders that occur from the compression of the blood vessels or nerves in the space between the collarbone and first rib. It’s painful, but he helps take it away.
That turned into helping whoever needs it.
“Why not? I enjoy doing good,” he said. “I want to be seen as a good guy, and this is a way to do that. But I enjoy the tips as well.”
Short won’t dismiss prayer. He doesn’t believe you can pray for something and receive something directly in return. You can’t pray for a new car, for instance, and wind up with a Mustang in your garage.
There are things that happen, however, that seem outside of chance. Maybe that’s what prayer gives people.
Short will help work out your hurt while you wait for salvation.
Staff writer Dan England is The Tribune’s Features Editor. His column runs on Tuesday. If you have an idea for a column, call (970) 392-4418 or e-mail dengland@greeleytribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @ DanEngland.
Short’s wife died in 1995 and, a year later, he became a massage therapist. It called to him, for reasons he still can’t quite explain, even if they were many of the same reasons he became a Presbyterian minister.
He still doesn’t know how he made it through school with the grief shadowing him, but he did it. A couple years later, the pain had dulled, and he let it go.
Now, at age 75, he’s a therapist once again after graduating from the Academy of Natural Therapy in downtown Greeley.
He’s happily married once again, retired from ministry and, yes, an old guy with a hip issue and a bit of a heart problem.
But he can’t stay away from the healing power of touch. He believes in prayer, but he also believes in his own power.
“You can pray for someone,” he said, “and I’ll fix it another way. Power is a good thing. It’s good to have it, to deal with it and help others with it. Strange things happen when you touch people.”
Short could sit around all day. It sounds like heaven to some, but that’s Short’s hell. He wrestled in college and did Judo later. His favorite moves in Judo are the arm bar and a choke hold on the carotid artery, which puts an opponent to sleep in a minute or so. Power allows you to help or hurt the body. He prefers to help. His handshake tells you he could do either without much effort.
Cathryn was his first wife, and she was a superwoman, he said, a smart mother with college degrees and a good job and heart. He has two sons and five grandchildren by her. Once he mourned, he dated — he was too much of a people person not to — but he wasn’t sure he wanted to get married. Then he met Edie Gause, an executive with the Presbyterian Church. She was three years younger. He once dated a woman for a while who was 12 years younger than him, and it was fun, but they seemed to live in different eras. They couldn’t even talk about music because they grew up with different bands. It got tiring.
But Gause was from his era. They liked the Presbyterian theology and disliked George Bush, even though both of them lived in Texas.
“We agreed on all the biggies right away,” he said. “We figured we could work out the little things.”
Gause is a superwoman as well, he said.
“I don’t know how I got so lucky to have two of them in my life,” he said.
Part of the reason he took up massage again was to help Gause, who battles thoracic outlet syndrome, a group of disorders that occur from the compression of the blood vessels or nerves in the space between the collarbone and first rib. It’s painful, but he helps take it away.
That turned into helping whoever needs it.
“Why not? I enjoy doing good,” he said. “I want to be seen as a good guy, and this is a way to do that. But I enjoy the tips as well.”
Short won’t dismiss prayer. He doesn’t believe you can pray for something and receive something directly in return. You can’t pray for a new car, for instance, and wind up with a Mustang in your garage.
There are things that happen, however, that seem outside of chance. Maybe that’s what prayer gives people.
Short will help work out your hurt while you wait for salvation.
Staff writer Dan England is The Tribune’s Features Editor. His column runs on Tuesday. If you have an idea for a column, call (970) 392-4418 or e-mail dengland@greeleytribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @ DanEngland.
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