LABYRINTH

"Faith is taking the first step, even if you can't see." - Martin Luther King

I’t’s been  a maze. Lost somewhere. Last summer I could stand, maybe shuffle. But now. Now I can walk.  Not with a stumble and a lurch, but with the somewhat hesitant  moments of something familiar. 

Something I had forgotten. Something I am re-learning. In my  world of the labyrinth, that has been my place. 

This time last year I was crippled beyond  my understanding

It became apparent when I stood at the bottom of an escalator not able to get my feet to move onto the moving stairs. I was frozen. People behind me. Waiting. Some impatiently. Some wondering what I was going to do. I wondered myself back then. 

Now I walk. Not perfectly. Not as fast as I would like. But some day. Somehow, I will be fast as the wind. Nevertheless. I can walk

In my mind, I can run….. I  have  two Hinge prosthetics holding me together in both legs. Like Viking swords. Like  Klingon Bat’leths. 

I think I’m finally ready for that Star Trek convention……

I was  like a thousand piece puzzle put back together with super glue.  I can walk. I marvel. At last. You have no idea. 

I can play piano again, climb stairs, and our hill to see  mountain sunsets. Simple things, I know. Not earth shattering. But exciting for me. Like I’ve never walked before. Things you take for granted till you can’t do them at all. 

My world had become so small. I was  trapped in this labyrinth, this maze I didn’t not ask to be held in  Now I’m free again.

Today I challenged myself. Maybe not a great one  to you, but to me a huge one. 

I planted five pots of sweet peas. Count them. Five. 

Something I have not done for years. In the past, I had to get others to do all the planting. 

Today I poked my fingers in the dirt and pulled out worms. They wriggled and jiggled. I was just a little wobbly. Like the worms. But not much. I stood my ground. I love the dirt and the worms and Seeds. 

In the cold of early morning, I did  it myself.  I’m thinking of another challenge… planting pumpkin and cucumber seeds  on the hill. I hadn’t gone up to the hill for at least three years. Till now. 

Yes, I know, NOT exciting. But there will be worms. I like worms.

First I could stand. Now I can  walk. Wonders will never cease. And it’s all about wonder. Watch me. I found the way out of my Labyrinth.  What’s out there? 

"A labyrinth is a symbolic journey...it is a map we can walk on, blurring the difference between map and world...." -Rebecca Solnit

 Photographs 2024