The night before he made history, he played with his kids on a suburban lawn. 

        The morning of his heinous act, he put virtually every dollar he had to his name in a teacup on his wife's dresser, reminding her that she needed to buy shoes for their daughter.

        Hours later, Lee Harvey Oswald would squeeze a trigger, kill John F. Kennedy, and himself be dead two days later.

       Even the most notorious people have moments during which they cared for others...did the right thing.

      Enter Mark Benson.

      I blogged the other day about my past with the former surgeon who now stands accused of the deaths of three people in a DUI accident Friday in Oconomowoc.       I wrote of a man who spent hours operating on my shredded left knee 25 years ago, a guy whose bedside manner and professionalism were beyond reproach.          I'm in no way trying to explain or absolve what Benson is accused of doing last week--I'm just telling you about my brushes with a guy who I never thought I'd live to see linked to such a horrible event.

       Others feel the same.

  "I read you article about Mark Benson and I need to thank you," writes Kristin of Thankfuller.   "He was my surgeon when I was a little girl until I turned 16. I am 24 now and I am heartbroken by the events that took place. He was amazing to me and my family, especially when my mom didn't have all the money to pay for my surgeries after my dad had left...I had a stroke when I was born and my parents were told that I never would walk. I credit Mark Benson with the fact that I can. He was a great man, and I strongly believe that his dependency began because of an accident that left him with nerve damage in his hand. I guess that is now neither here nor there, but I am thankful that someone shed light on the man he used to be versus the monster everyone feels that he is now. I know what he did was monstrous but I still see the man who helped me walk and I just wanted to again thank you for discussing that part of his life."

       A woman named Barbara says, "I was the manager of the Post Anesthesia Care Unit at St. Joe's from 1983-1990. I left Milwaukee in 1994. Last nite I was surfing the JS Online site and found the article about Dr Benson, also read your article about him. I am shocked and saddened by the waste of talent, and skill. When I managed the PACU, Dr Benson cared for many adults children with congenital orthopedic anomalies. He was wonderful to work with and always had a wonderful sense of humor. It is very sad to see a person destroy his god given talent."

       I have a co-worker who trusted his son to Mark Benson many years ago, someone who'd heard about some of the things that had happened to him outside the operating room.       I'd heard about physical maladies that included hand and hip issues.     Someone reminded me that Benson had a brush with a condition that left him legally blind for almost a year.      I'd heard rumors about relationship issues (read a Journal/Sentinel background piece on Benson's addictions/driving record here)      

        None of this justifies.      It only explains.     It's said that challenges build character.     Others think not, saying that they bring out what character you already have.    

      When I tell others that Benson was my surgeon, some shake their heads and bemoan the blown talent.      Others crack funny and ask what Benson was on when he did my leg.       A few look at me as if they expect me to say that I let him cut me despite his horns, pointy tail and cloven hooves.       They think I did business with the devil himself.

       I don't know the Mark Benson who was before a judge in cuffs and an orange jump suit the other day.       The one I encountered in 1983 couldn't have been nicer, friendlier or more professional.        He could've opened me up the first time I saw him but he chose instead to tell me to cool it, reminding me that I wasn't a kid any more and that I could avoid surgery by lying low, exercising moderately and not taking any stupid chances with what was left of my knee.       I didn't listen, though, and suffered the consequences.

       I'm sure others told Mark Benson the same thing in recent years...that he shouldn't take stupid chances as he battled his demons.      I'm sure they warned him about the consequences.         He apparently didn't listen, either, with tragic results.

      And, in that regard, don't we all have a little something in common?

      What do you think?     E-mail me at mueller@620wtmj.com.