I spent the last session of my day today working with a beautiful woman who had 5 or 6 strokes over the past 20 years. The last one 6 years ago left her unable to speak, swallow, walk, or move her arms. Her body is curling up into the fetal position from whence she came, where we all came from. At the bequest of her family, I started working with her about a month ago, just trying to restore some range of motion to her upper body (so far). I wasn’t sure how much I could do-it was new territory for me, but I thought I’d give it a try. To my surprise, she has made progress, and I have learned to understand her gutteral talk and facial responses. I know this; she is very aware and extremely pleased with what we are doing together. More importantly, she is teaching me a valuable lesson each and every time I work with her-the awareness of truly appreciating and reveling in life. I am so much more appreciative of what I have, what I can do, and the extreme satisfaction of being able to help another person. Since my own health is really under my control, I am doing everything possible to safeguard and promote my well-being. I am so grateful to her. I learn so much about myself and about life, and how fragile it can be. I will never take my health for granted-I will continue to work at it, and I will never be able to repay her for this insight.
Stay well, John R Blilie, M.S.