Last night Jenn and I attended a youth camp church service in Purcell, Oklahoma. I attended this camp in my teen years and it has grown and developed nicely through the years.
During the service, I noticed a paraplegic girl sitting in her motorized chair next to her little brother seated in a lawn chair. Her hands were gnarled and lifeless. She had no movement in her arms. However, she was very active. Twisting from side to side, she communicated frequently with her mother and brother on both sides of her. I noticed a velcro strap with something resembling an ink pen sticking out of it fastened to her upper arm. It sparked my curiosity, as I couldn't discern the purpose of the strap and "pen". At first, I thought it might be a pen holder, so she could write with her mouth when she wanted to write something down. I was proved wrong in just a few minutes. The "pen" was really a mouthpiece by which she moved her arms to touch things and to adjust their position.
In spite of her extremely limited mobility, she was exerting a mighty effort to move her arm, and thus her hand, over the head of her little brother, caressing him lightly, apparently in an effort to get him to go to sleep. My eyes almost filled with tears as I watched this innate, maternal instinct being borne out by a girl who by all rights should been the recipient of her brother's soothing touch. Each movement was labored and required great strength in her neck and shoulders. Gripping the "pen" with her teeth, she moved her arm and hand over her brother's head in such a gentle way.
Then, suddenly, the knot in my throat disappeared. With an angry scowl, her brother looked up and told his mom to tell his sister to stop bothering him. The sister laughed and I soon realized that I had been duped. What I had mistaken for tender, fraternal affection was really just two siblings pestering each other.
Oh well, I guess I can substitute the innate, maternal instinct bit with age-old, sibling rivalry and still marvel at how some things come quite naturally, despite the adverse circumstances.
In other news, I crawled up into the attic this morning at 6am and fastened down the electrical box for the ceiling fan in our bedroom. By 8am, the fan was installed and in working condition. I'm such a hero. No, make that a super-hero. Jenn just laughs when I say that. But seriously, I'm getting really good at installing those fans. They're supposed to save on energy costs and I think they are very elegant.