Empty wheelchair in a long hallway

Echoes from long ago
Montreal, QC
January 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We're often told, usually by our elders, to cherish our health, to appreciate it as a precious gift, for once we lose it there's often no way to get it back.

Walking through a mega-hospital like this one, you're constantly reminded of that, of the health that you have, but others do not. Part of me feels constantly guilty that, as I visit patients who have been here for weeks, or months, even, I can just as easily run down to the atrium to crack open my laptop and get some work done, or fish my car out of the parking lot and head home. I'm always one moment removed from a normal life outside these walls, while everyone else is stuck here.

I remember what it felt like, 4-year-old me, being left alone in this very hospital as my parents went home at the end of the day. Eventually it became normal for me, and I never begrudged their need to take care of their life outside this place. But initally, that feeling of being left alone felt...weird. I didn't want to be here, but I had no ability to leave under my own power. It was a humbling realization for a munchkin.

Cue the wheelchair, as there are two ways to look at it. It's either a sign of immobility, a message to everyone else of your body's limitations. Or it's a vehicle of sorts, a means to expand your current envelope and get around regardless of what life throws at you. My younger self chose door #2, and wheelchairs much like this one were often my breaking-the-rules escape from a darkened room at night.

Seeing this at the end of the hall triggered a powerful memory as I made my way back to my father-in-law's room. That I could do so under my own power was a reminder of how lucky I was then, and am today.

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