I was at church on Sunday, typical day. Typically, we have the sacrament, and then the Bishop asks some members of our ward to speak.
This particular day, there was this couple that I've seen a few times, but I do not know very well. The couple looks about 35, She was in a wheelchair, not a push wheelchair, but one of those fancy electric ones. Her face was messed up, with scar tissue all over it. Her upper body looked decent enough, but her legs were shriveled up little sticks, indicating that she had been in that wheelchair for some time. The man was not much better, although physically healthy looking, he looked a little "off", like he wasn't all there mentally.
After taking the sacrament, the woman flips the switches on her wheelchair to get as close to the podium as possible. After some time, she arrives and tells of this story about when she was 15, she got into a car wreck with her dad. It killed him, and she was badly injured with cuts on her face, messing up her left arm, and breaking her back, paralyzing her. She spoke of the troubles she had coping with the changes in her life. Eventually she went to college at BYU where she met her now husband who was a janitor there at the time. She is now an accountant, working at a computer with spreadsheets. She talked about dealing with her physical limitations and how her husband helps her get around and her appreciation for him. She spoke of faith and overcoming obstacles.
Next was the man's turn to speak. He had some notecards to read and he struggled to read them, several times stopping to ask his wife what this or that word is. He talked about his job as a dishwasher and his love of riding horses in the mountains (his uncle lets him borrow some). He talked of climbing mountains while hunting and persevering with challenges.
Normally, I tend to fall asleep at church, but these two got me choked up. He professed his love for his wife, and talked about helping her around, being her legs, and her being there for him mentally. If he were single, his mental capacity wouldn't allow him to be independent. He would not be able to earn enough to pay the bills, or even do the paperwork to pay the bills for that matter. In turn, she could not be independent either with her physical limitations. From what I could tell, these two were both faithful and supportive of each other. The Yin and Yang was strong with these two and they appreciated each other because of that.
Comments
Post a Comment