Inspiring Truth

Sitting alone

     warming sun

          windshield filtered

Sifting ideas

     through unfocused

          leisure

Mindless images

     without traction

          then

Through an opening

     distant door with

          all due deliberate speed

A wheelchaired young woman

     self-driven determined

          focused my glance

Rolled to a driverless

     car door opened pulled

          into position sitting

Deftly disassembled

     placed chair behind

          drove off

Left behind

      an image

          uplifting

I was left

     with no complaining

           for now

     The young woman had been shopping in the Supermarket. My wife saw her in the store and was struck by what she took to be an almost defiant I dare you to try to help me attitude. We will never know the back story; why she was in the wheelchair, what her personal life is like, none of that.              

     However, we can safely assume that here was a person taking charge of herself and not wasting time in self-pity. Her story is her story and I can leave it at that. My takeaway is a rewarding afternoon. 

*3.6 million wheelchair users in the United States is is a fact. $2.9 Billion wheelchair industry is a fact. The undetermined number of persons who choose not to be defined by any so-called handicap is the inspiring truth.