It is. Life does go on though. Just down a different path. No one could say what would have been, or what is to come. Making the most out of it is all there's in it. Hmm. But definitely different than this time last year. I did not knew what was coming, neither did she.
Thank you you for the lovely and touching words. :-)
When I first read this question, I thought I couldn't answer. After spending a year getting in good physical shape (which would have given me a whole list of answers), I injured both my arms and can't do any of those things for a long time to come. Then I thought about it some more and realized that this year I learned that I could completely suspend all my personal boundaries, modesty and vanity and allow myself to depend on others for my most basic needs. It wasn't an experience I would have chosen or would want to repeat, but as I have had to allocate my energies and adapt to my limitations, I've learned what is and isn't important.
I wonder if you've ever heard of Daruma? He was the Buddhist monk largely responsible for founding Zen Buddhism in Japan. Injured in a shipwreck he lost both arms and both legs and had to depend on his disciples to care for him. They fed him, bathed him, attended to his physical needs.
His determination made him a legend in Japan and a doll has been made in his honour. It is Japan's major good luck symbol. It has neither arms nor legs, and its message is, "Three times knocked down, four times get up." I'll paste a picture of one below.
It sounds to me as though you learned that lesson very well indeed.
A year ago I began teaching English to a Syrian refugee family privately sponsored by a group of Mennonites. They came here in winter and without a word of English or French. Within the first week the father needed emergency heart surgery, and twice more after that. There are three children. The boy is struggling and the girls are flourishing. The 2.5 year old felt I should know the name of ice cream in Arabic (boo-dah with emphasis and speed applied to the first syllable.). This is volunteer work, and although I've done a lot of volunteer work in the past, I didn't expect to like doing this so much. We've had cooking and baking lessons together, and trips to the market and to the immigrant conversation evenings at a local restaurant. I thought that because they were Muslim they would be very religious, but they aren't really. So now I can use google translator so fast. In fact, I've used it in situations when non-English speaking people in public were at a loss to explain something. I'm so glad I agreed to do this. I took the whole family out for Halloween and watched them marvel at this tradition.
This post was edited by Rathkeale at January 18, 2017 1:46 AM MST
There are a few things that may never change though out the years. Some of them lending great knowledge and chasing away fears and others with whole-hearted laughter bringing on happy tears. The first one that comes to mind is you lending your talents to people of any kind. Big or small, or just starting to crawl, you help them communicate, hoping they won't fall. Verbal or written, whatever they need, you listen and teach helping them to succeed. And I will continually tend to tumble right into the the middle. Sometimes I might even be playing the fiddle! I will be spilling sparkles all over the town, before realizing the beginning might have been a better place to be found. And stumbling back to the beginning, as I did right here, the last question I asked has become quite clear. So, on the note of a finely tuned fiddle, let's sing and dance together with a genuine giggle! Lots of hugs and love, Merlin Happy! Happy!
This post was edited by Merlin at January 18, 2017 2:34 AM MST
Benedict Arnold 