Seeing through the eyes of another
How often do we get the chance to see through the eyes of someone else? Maybe through a child on Christmas morning, or Easter Sunday egg hunt?
It has been a privilege over the past weeks to be part of a group of women supporting our friend after a nasty fall which fractured her good leg, the one that is not affected by MS. A fall where the fireman needed to pick her up, tend to her and help her into the ambulance and get her to hospital. A nasty crack on the head, causing concussion as well. A big deal!
For most of us, a plaster cast, a moonboot or surgery followed by a time on crutches to rest the broken limb and we are back up and running. Not in this case as the leg without the break is unable to support our friend to stand, so the recovery looks a lot different. Her current mode of transport is the temporary use of a wheelchair which has its own limitations and restrictions maneuvering through the home.
Last week we headed outdoors to the village for a coffee and a look at the shops. A first since the accident. Having worked at our local hospital for seven years, wheeling a person in a wheelchair to a destination in the hospital has never been an issue. Hospitals are designed for wheelchair access. Not so our pavements, shops and cafés.
It truly was a wonderful outing for us both. For me, the joy was seeing my friend who clearly was loving being out in the fresh air, feeling the breeze on her face and seeing all the coming and goings. To look in shop windows and delight in the beauty all around her was gold. To sit at a table outside a café enjoying a coffee, a scone, sunshine, a warm breeze and heartfelt conversation was such a blessing.
Interestingly, the navigation at curbsides, changing levels, reversing for easier transition was a bit more challenging. The gentle moving through a store so she could admire and take in all that surrounded her. The shops had enough room for a wheelchair bound customer, but only just! Little lifts of the wheels and adjustments to correct and make sure the wheelchair did not clip anything enroute.
The welcome of the shop owners and their willingness to help in whatever way they could. Even to the extent when there was no mirror low enough for my friend to see what the glasses she was trying on, looked like; they removed a full-length mirror from the changing room for her to see, not only the glasses, but the lovely cardigan she had tried on.
Always so grateful, always the ready smile and the appreciation of everything and anything we do for her, she quietly said “I am looking at life quite differently from this chair. What I see at this height is very different and very interesting.”
Different indeed, but so rewarding and so life giving to see her face lit up, closing her eyes, her face tilted to the sun and breathing deeply for a moment, showed how much she was enjoying being outdoors. Today, we get to do it all again and the sun has come out, just for her.
We can take so much for granted, can’t we? I am so grateful for being given a glimpse beneath the surface, into a depth I might otherwise have missed.
For life, in all its complexities and in all its simplicity, for freedom and choice and for family and friendships. Thank you.
