This morning was one of those days I just couldn’t get
started. My son had to use my shower
because of a problem with his which put me behind in my own schedule. Instead of doing something useful I used that time lying in bed for a few extra
minutes which made me even groggier.
After that I had a hard time kicking it in gear. Since I was running late anyway I decided I
would stop by Hattiesburg Clinic on my way to work and get my quarterly blood test I have been putting off for two months (read: lost the order and finally found
it last night).
As I was getting out of my car at the clinic one of those ill
feelings came over me. The kind of
feeling that convinces you that you are coming down with a dreaded illness. My joints ached, my head hurt, and I felt generally
exhausted. Sitting in the waiting room I
tried to convince myself to just go home and go back to bed; forget work. I delved into a game crushing candy and didn’t
pay attention to anyone around me until I
heard a lab tech call a name. It wasn’t
my name but I looked up anyway just in time to see a woman who had been sitting right next to me
in an electric wheelchair whirl the chair around and follow the tech to the
back. A few seconds later another tech
called my name. When I walked into the
lab the woman in the wheelchair looked up at me and smiled and waved. I turned to look behind me to see who she was
waving at because surely it was not me.
Well, I guess it was me.
I watched her interact with her tech and wondered why she was in a wheelchair.
She seemed around my age or a little younger and other than being in the
chair she looked healthy. It was when
she spoke I guessed maybe she had had a stroke.
Her voice was clear and succinct, but she halted between each word as if
she had to think about every syllable and inflection before she could speak the
word.
She praised the tech for doing a good job taking her
blood. She joked about all the blood she
has had to have drawn, and she caught my eye as she laughed it off. I smiled and shook my head in agreement
because I didn’t know anything to say.
What a contrast we were to each other. There I sat having a routine procedure for
wellness screening and feeling sorry for myself because I was sleepy and
achy. There she sat in a wheelchair with
who knows what kind of serious health problems, spreading cheer and joy with
every deliberate, thought-filled word she uttered.
There was something about her smile that was infectious. A person could not help but feel special in
her presence.
We left the lab at the same time and even in the hallway she
continued to praise the techs’ good work.
I turned and said, “They really do (a good job)”. She said, “Yes, they do.” Again,
I didn’t know of anything else to say.
She went one way and I went another and I was so overcome with emotion
from the warmth of her inner light that I teared up at the thought of it. By the time I reached my car I was almost
sobbing.
We never know what the strangers around us are going through,
nor do they know our fears and pains.
For that matter none of us really know what’s going on deep inside the
ones sitting next to us all day or living under our same roof. But if we could emanate just a fraction of
the kindness and pleasure for life that debilitated woman showed then just
think of how much better off we could make the world for each other. If we could shift the focus off of our own
aches and pains for just awhile each day and focus on something positive…ah,
but there I go again, drinking lemonade.
I have bad days, I truly do.
This morning was the beginning of one of those days. My mood was cut short and redirected by the
kindness of a perfect stranger. My day
got better. I went to work after all,
and I felt just fine.
An angel, unaware.
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