stephen s

my associations with children's hospital here in richmond have been positive. while i knew that this was a hospital for children with many physical ills, i had never seen that part of the hospital. my comings and goings had been strictly to have austin evaluated for gifted status. and that was it. what an eye opening experience this past friday was for me.

for the first time since his accident, i went to see my student, stephen. he is lying in a bed in a colorful room in a sunny, pleasant wing. he is facing a large red stuffed frog, and one eye blinks, the other does not. i don't know if he knew who i was, or what he knows at all . what i do know is that i was not prepared for what i saw, and i am ashamed to say i was shocked.

first, i knew that they had removed a part of his skull and that it is in a freezer somewhere. this was to allow the swelling in his brain to go down. but i wonder if they removed part of his brain as well. the one side of his head is just a crater. is the brain that small?

he has grown a great deal. his hands are larger and i couldn't help but think that would have helped his guitar playing. they had him dressed in a t-shirt with guitars on it, and his ipod was on the stand next to the bed. around the room were still posters and pictures and someone had put halloween things on the window. and it is october, the end of it, and stephen has been gone from us since the beginning of march. i did reiki on him, but i don't think he was there. but i just guess you have to have faith. his parents certainly do. i am not sure that he will come back to us, but i wish it.

and it makes me greatful for what i have, and it makes me wonder about all of the lessons that could be learned from watching him, watching his family. he may never do another thing in his life short of blinking one eye occasionally. but he is still a stone in the pond, and the ripples, ah, the ripples that he has made...