The Direction of Intention

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When I need to remember joy and rekindle my belief in humanity I get on the ferry to Bainbridge Island to visit my friend Judy and her husband Kim. They are without question the most abundant, gratitude-filled people I know. The precious few hours I have with them are laughter-filled, life-full, and rich in mischief and poetry. They are like fine chocolate (the highest compliment I can give). I took the ferry yesterday for a visit.

Four years ago, they were hiking on a remote trail when Kim suffered a massive stroke. Judy’s phone had a brittle connection and within minutes a helicopter found them and Kim was airlifted to a hospital. He survived. He spent months in intensive care. He lost the left side of his body completely and has very limited use of his right side. He lives his life in a wheel chair. Judy uses mechanical lifts to get him from chair to bed, bed to chair, chair to toilet, etc. They had no health insurance (they both worked in service organizations, teaching, providing mediation, helping communities around the world in need learn how empower themselves and better their lives. Health insurance was beyond their means). Judy is Kim’s full-time caregiver. She has someone come in 3 hours a week to relieve her. Their life is mostly lived within the confines of their small home.

This is their circumstance. Within their circumstance they choose life! Kim teaches children about people with disabilities. He serves on the library’s board of directors. Judy works with ESL students and continues (somehow) her work in mediation. Kim can no longer read so they read books together. There are streams of friends coming in to read with them, to talk politics, to share recipes, poetry, make music and art. We celebrated and then ate with great attention the first tomato of the season. We stole cookies from each others plate and created titles for poems about hummingbirds and good shtick for comedy routines. We listened to bird song and appreciated the sun on our faces. We savored life as we lived it in that moment. I left to catch the ferry home when members of their sangha began arriving for their weekly meditation group.

Kim and Judy’s life is not easy. Their limits are strict and unforgiving.
And, they teach me that vibrant life knows no limitation; vibrant life merely requires us to choose it.

[to be continued]

Filed under: Awakening, Truly Powerful People |