Surprises

Beyond the arched frame of the condo’s balcony, limbs grow in tangled abandon. Wind wafts through intertwined fading leaves stirring fall’s colors until they float to the dry ground below. The afternoon sun casts long shadowy fingers swaying into each other until they merge into one shape pulsating in summer’s final heat remaining together until the sun drifts below the horizon.

Alive with forest movement in the midst of the city, the surprising scene captures my imagination. And yet there are people whose souls are not stirred and believe to expect nothing in life. According to them, if anything beautiful happens, it’s as rare as love slipping her hands into the gnarled, arthritic grip of the aged prying apart stiff knuckles.

Although I believe in expecting the unexpected, I was happily surprised when a former business associate called this week. A few years ago, she moved out of town just as I thought we might become friends. We will soon add each other into busy days and let each moment unfold. Every day is a treasure and within its bountiful chest lays sparkling nuggets even more beautiful than the rest and can be found when we immerse ourselves in life looking at both the forest and the trees.

Daddy Nine Toes

My friend lost his toe last week. Actually, his toe is not missing but surgeons removed it. The toe was not an important one as toes go, but a toe nonetheless. This happened not because of anything exotic but rather a common infection that assailed this frail appendage until doctors decided it was no longer needed. Over time, the medical profession has determined that we don’t require several body parts – appendixes, gallbladders, tonsils, and now an errant toe seeking its own way in life. I wonder how they know what the body needs, and how did they acquire this knowledge? I wonder why some people heal after life altering events and others dispair in perpetuity until their suffrage becomes contagious and spreads to unwitting family and friends?

We’re all composed of bone and blood; heart and soul; good and trouble. Perhaps the only real difference between people is how some are able to rise above harsh realities and keep moving forward while others remain mired in muck and time. For all of life’s inequities, we live a common life. We suffer trauma, heartbreak, joy, and pain. We yearn for understanding and belonging. And yet, our unique reactions define and shape each one of us.

Daddy Nine Toes survives life’s assaults whether it hits him in the foot with infection; in the face with injustice; or in the heart with loss. He never went to medical school to fully understand the functions of livers or brains or colons, and yet he understands what is truly needed to live. It’s not a full head of hair. It’s not 20/20 vision or perfect hips. It’s not the ability to eat 20 ounce steaks or kick back martinis.

He knows that life is not a number, a thing, a perfect set of 10 toes. Life is love defying definition, friendships enduring time, and beauty surpassing description. Life is best when authentically shared, treasured when almost lost, experienced when fully lived. After slogging through the mud, Life is rising tall with wise eyes and mischievious grins. Daddy Nine Toes takes it as it comes and keeps on going, standing strong on nine toes and balanced by values, humor, and integrity.

First Steps

The screen door crashed behind her as she stumbled into the beach house before collapsing on the kitchen floor. Sand and blood mixed together on her foot and for the briefest of moments, I simply stared until her voice shook me out of my trance. “I’ve been stung by a catfish,” she cried. “It hurts! It hurts!” Another friend and I leapt into action cleaning the blood, the mess, and the wounded. The three of us seamlessly played our parts without rehearsal. One found the first aid kit, Kleenex, tweezers, aspirin and other resources. The fallen friend screamed “Google” when I hesitated on an appropriate course of action. I played nurse and peered into her punctured scrape using a needle to find and extract the venomous barb. Some 36 hours later, she found herself surrounded by even more people in an emergency room and on the receiving end of an x-ray, tetanus shot and antibiotics.

That vacation day is not so unlike other days. Life explodes through a door and lands at our feet. We may freeze, run from the pain, or stand to deal with that which confronts us. When Life slaps us in the face, we can turn the cheek or slap back. When Life disappoints, we can curl in a fetal position or find our backbone and move forward.

I’ve been down and stayed down before. I’ve also slowly straightened wobbly legs and felt trembling knees. I’ve been steadied by family and friends. However, the journey ultimately begins in each one of us. My friend could have chosen to remain on the beach feeling the salt water wash her wound until dizzied with pain; she collapsed under the hot sun. She could have chosen to be helpless and simply lay on the sand until someone saw her. And yet, she chose to struggle towards the house; to reach out to waiting friends; to find safety and relief.

Life waits behind every door whether we open it or not. We simply have to get up, take a step and trust that others are there along the way to help when we need it most.