A Reason to Give Thanks

It hasn't been easy getting use to the way my arm now looks and feels. The most unexpected difference is that while in hiding the hair on my arm has seemed to double in length and quantity--go figure. As a result my arm is now hyper-sensitive. Most difficult to come to grips with is the permenant discoloration I will likely carry with me for the rest of my life. No one ever wants to see his body look this way. And then there's my body's refusal to respond in the way I want it to. I've blinked back tears on occasion.

Even at the age of 18 months, Leslie and my middle child, Kari, already has the gift of empathy. Throughout my forearm immobilization she would routinely walk up to me rubbing her arm; then she would touch my cast and smile the gloom away. Well, today she comes up rubbing her arm and smiling; then begins carressing my damaged wing. I can't put into words how healing it was to feel the courage of her touch. I pray that will remain her gift to the world. We need it.

Thank you, Kari Shell.