I watched a program on Sports Center the other day that I can't get out of my head. Two high school age boys on the wrestling team were the subjects. One of the boys was run over by a train when his backpack became stuck, and as a result, he lost both of his legs. A child of poverty, he was relegated to walking on his hands because his family couldn’t afford medical help/prosthesis. When he reached high school, he met a friend who not only wrestled with him, but carried him on his back around school, to and from wrestling matches…etc. They were inseparable. Funny thing was, the boy who carried the disabled one, was legally blind, born with a degenerative eye disease. The program went on to show each boy cheering the other at wrestling matches, the legally blind boy always carrying the legless one. At graduation, a medical donation of prosthetic legs enabled the two boys to walk side by side across the stage for the first time. A touching story about one friend carrying another until he was able to walk on his own again. They now walk side by sideJ
I cried, although I didn’t really "get it" until about 3:00 am (during one of my sleepless nights). The legless boy was me. Because of unfortunate circumstances, he relied heavily on a friend to carry him through, even though his friend couldn’t always see clearly where they were headed. And when he was cured with prosthetic legs, his friend was still there walking beside him. Wow, what symbolism!!! This past year I, too, was carried by friends through my ordeal with breast cancer. They didn’t always know what to do or say, but they were there…always. And they are still here, walking beside me.
I guess it’s just one of those stories I wanted to share. True friendship is unmeasureable, and reminds us all that life, although complicated at times, is good…very goodJ
"No love, no friendship, can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever."
Francois Mocuriac
