Out of Focus
One day I went to help with some yard work for a friend of a friend. The house sits on Kaneohe Bay and looks straight out to Chinaman's Hat, a small uninhabited island on the East side of Oahu. It was about noon and the East rising sun had made its way toward the West and with a slight overcast the ocean breeze kept us cool. We had spent the hours earlier cutting grass and tackling weeds, so the view was relaxing. The water stood still and almost made you believe you could walk right over it. The outreach of the coastline on both sides embraced you with a warmth and safety. "What an amazing view", I muttered, "I could get used to this!" One of the other guys replied, "If it weren't for those power lines." Like a 3D art puzzle that suddenly came into focus, the power lines popped right in front of my view. I hadn't even noticed those lines until someone pointed it out. If only I exercised that ability to see past the other "unsightly" object in my life and focus on the beauty.
The couple that we were helping has an amazing story. A couple years ago this woman had suffered a major stroke. A once vibrant mother of two boys now found herself isolated to a bed with no ability to move anything but her eyes. The devastation left her in a nursing home and every night she would weep because she could not be in her own home. Her husband sought every resource available and was awarded grant money to get all the supplies she needed to come home. Still, the medical professionals told him he wouldn't be able to do it, over two years later he still does. During the week while he is at work a caregiver comes to care for her, but every other minute, he is with her. He has given up all of the water sports he loved to sit and care for his wife and two boys. With his youngest child having Autism, the challenges are even greater. No one bothered to point it out to him, so he only sees the positive. Cleaning her, going through an entire routine to administer all of her medicines, and I'm talking a book shelf of them. Probably the most impressive and touching thing is their communication. Although she can only move her eyes they have worked out a system that allows her to spell out sentences. This woman still plans dinner for her family. While we were there her husband got a call from their son. "What? I don't know. What's a chunk roast?" He looked at his wife and they did their communication and he said, "Chuck Roast. I don't know what that is either!" We chuckled with them and we helped him direct his son to the chuck roast. She also buys gifts for people. During another visit she was communicating with her husband and he said, "What package?" He looked at us and he said, "She said there is a green package." We were scouring the room and I thought, "Surely your communication arrangement is not working." After he had another "chat" with her, he found it in a box on the dinner table, where she first said it was. It was a green package, a gift for her friend that was visiting.
Someone didn't point out to them that their life was to be tragic. Someone forgot to tell them that their life was over, that they should just give up. Someone forgot to point out that there are power lines blocking their view. No actually, I think the medical professionals did point it out. I think other people along the way pointed them out. Sadly, probably even family and friends pointed it out. Still, they chose to focus on the view, the beautiful scenery of a love story that has been in the making and is not yet complete. They are not ready to end the story yet. Life does not seem easy for them, not one bit. That doesn't stop them from enjoying the beauty that lay beyond the obstacles.
Look past the power lines and enjoy the view. –jason
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