Dakota Beacon

Life for Chris Gardner was unbelievably tough.  He survived a tumultuous and harrowing childhood involving alcoholism, welfare and domestic violence.  Born in Milwaukee in 1954, his father was away in Louisiana by the time of his birth. His mother remarried.  He came to fear his stepfather, who abused his mother and sisters in random fits of rage. At one point the stepfather managed to have his mother jailed on a false charge of welfare fraud.  The children went into foster care. Gardner developed a positive relationship with an uncle, but this man died when Chris was nine years old. Only when his mother showed up at the funeral in custody, did Chris and his siblings learn that she had been in prison.  His mother, nevertheless, gave her children a strong foundation of self-reliance and self-confidence.  

As a boy he was sexually abused by a member of a street gang, an act for which Gardner found justice of his own making.  Following graduation from high school, Gardner enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to a medical unit, where he learned about laboratory protocol and methods, and upon discharge from the Navy he was offered a position in medical research, and married.  He went into sales of medical equipment to support himself and his wife. He left her, in time, and became involved with another woman. With this woman he had a child. This union was ill-fated, however. At one point she left with the child and in giving pursuit he pushed her into a bush.  He was charged with abuse and jailed. Upon release he found that his apartment was emptied out. With nothing but the clothes he was wearing when he was arrested, he managed to get an internship with Dean Witter, having decided that the stock brokerage business was a way out of poverty, inspired by the sight of a stockbroker’s red Ferrari, while continuing to sell medical equipment.  

He found a rooming house and took up residence.  Then his wife returned, leaving their child in his care.  Although glad of having his child and willing to take responsibility for caring for him, he was to find that the rooming house did not allow children.  The next months were grueling. He had a toddler son to care for and no home. When it came to deciding whether to eat or spend the night in a hotel, Gardner bought food and they spent the night in a public restroom.  They lived on subways and in doorways. It was an incredibly difficult time for this man and his child. He was determined that he would give his son what had been denied him - a father. As a stockbroker he became a multi-millionaire.  His story was eventually told in a book and then in a movie, The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), starring Will Smith.  He is now a motivational speaker and inspires others to depend on themselves and take responsibility.  His story is a powerful example of one man’s commitment to his child, his will not only to survive but to succeed.  We can all learn a great lesson from the life of Chris Gardner.

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