Simply Connect

I remember a quote from a book that my aunt used to like, "simply connect." It's stuck with me over time. It was what I felt when I looked into Ran's eyes that day, 'connection.' It was like the feeling you get when you kiss the one you love and the opposite of being in a crowd and feeling totally alone. I saw in her eyes so much emotion and so many trapped thoughts that longed so much to be expressed.

She did not want this. If she had a choice she might have chosen differently. Like us, I think her first choice wasn't to be lying there in bed coughing from pneumonia and having difficulty moving her limbs because of cerebral palsy.

I also saw in her brown eyes loneliness, longing and questions. Staring into her eyes though I felt like it was me in the bed and her staring down at me. It was a strange kind of empathy that I was experiencing. I then blinked to sever the connection and felt so glad that it wasn't me in the bed and then regret for thinking like this. However, because I had the freedom of moving and caring, I felt like I must then offer myself to her in this way. Her difficulty prompted this response in me. Seeing her difficulty in this new light I saw that her difficulty could bring out the good in others if they were open to it.

Knowing then what to do, I picked her up and showed her around. She was curious and studied things around her. I was grateful to have shared this connection with her. I realized too that this connection carried with it a responsibility to let others know about her and to take care of her in any way possible.

So now, I'm hoping her message reaches you and you in turn can do something for her. As for myself, I won't forget Ran there in that bed and her gratefulness out of it.

By Louis