Not remotely disabled

Never stop
Montreal, QC
January 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I probably shouldn't have taken this photo. Shooting strangers (photographically) in public spaces is often perceived by some as a somewhat grey area, and I realize I pushed it with this one.

But...

There's always a "but" with me, and it just as often starts with a jolt of something spiking itself through my brain. I had been seeing this man in various shared spaces throughout the hospital. He had been here the entire few months we've been returning here, and I'm quite certain well before then, too.

He was always out and about, usually surrounded by friends, or chatting with strangers. Whatever brought him here, it was clear he wasn't content to stay in his room, and instead routinely rolled through the halls in search of, if not adventure, then connection.

We were having a particularly challenging day upstairs, and coming across this scene seemed to snap me back into balance. Because it didn't matter what life threw this man's way - and it was obvious he'd endured more than his fair share - but whatever his challenges were, he simply pushed himself that much harder to keep moving, to remain viable.

I just couldn't let the moment slip away unnoticed. I couldn't let go of the lesson he clearly had for anyone who walked through these doors on that morning. And the rest of us, for that matter.

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