Free to Be

Day 71

Every time I go to visit my Locked-In Syndrome friend, I am reminded of how wonderful and amazing it is that I can move on my own. Exercising is a joy when I know I can just get up and do it when I want. No one to have to lift me out of bed. No one using electrodes to stimulate muscles and get the signals to the brain that are not working. My whole body--little pains and all--is a marvelous wonder of amazingness! Little to no effort to shake someone's hand, or make a fist, or tap my foot to a rhythm. I am always humbled and shamed when I think how much I complain over my various illnesses and forget that I have a body that functions on its own.

There's an old LDS commercial that I taught to some friends at school in 6th grade. We used to sing it at recess all the time.

Run

Jump

Climb

Walk

Laugh

&

Cry

Throw

Fetch

Play Catch

Slip

&

Slide

Look

Swim

Eat

Grin

Cook

&

CHEER

Giggle

Wait

Talk Straight

(Woo!!)

Be There!

Love isn't just something you say, it's something you do.

A message from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Of that list, my friend can only do about 6 on her own. Especially wait. "She has the patience of Job" as they say. She really does. And yet she makes so much progress in gaining back the use of various limbs. I've seen her lift her legs from a bent position into a straight position, and I want to cry every time I see this amazing feat because when I met her, she couldn't even lift her head on her own.

If there was anything I was to truly gain from living here right now in this time of my life, I believe it was knowing my friend. She has changed my life and of a surety left "a handprint on my heart."