ears are good

I'm at my parent's house waiting for them to get home so we can have lunch and spend some time together. I feel like I haven't seen them in a long time and that's no bueno. My family is the best. I overslept this morning so I went to Amie's church instead since it starts later. It was really nice.

The trip I did Thursday and Friday was really good for me. I had to get up too early and work too long which wasn't good, but some of the people I came across were what was good about it. I think God was trying to remind me how good my life is. Trying to make me stop focusing on my puny little life and what it doesn't hold and see what my life could be like.

The first flight of our trip was up to Buffalo, NY. They preboarded an old lady and whispered to me that they thought she had alzheimer's. She was also nearly deaf. She started telling me how her daughter had put her on a plane two days ago in a city that she couldn't remember. Colorado? No, what's that place where they gamble? Las Vegas. Yeah I think it was there. She said the plane broke and somehow she ended up in Atlanta. She said they lost her cause she was supposed to be going north but was in Atlanta. She said that her son must've had the biggest fright when they told him where he was supposed to pick her up. It's got to suck to not know what's going on or be able to remember where you were last week or five years ago.

The next person I came across was a lady flying back from Albany. She was a very beautiful lady probably in her 50s or 60s. She had to be pre-boarded and needed a wheelchair in Atlanta. After we landed and were waiting for the wheelchair she asked the pilot if a spinal cord stimulator affected the airplane cause she couldn't turn it off. She had some kind of spinal degeneration and after 4 surgeries it was the last resort. She had a battery implanted in her back and a wire that ran up her spine to control the pain. And for some reason when she had the 3 hour surgery they couldn't put her to sleep so she felt the whole thing. But she was so cheerful about everything and when the pilot offered to carry her bags down the stairs she said no, that she wanted to do everything she could while she could. She had such a great attitude about life and instead of whining and complaining she was happy to be able to do the simple things.

I was riding the escalator in Atlanta and was behind a soldier. I noticed that he had a little bandaid on his head behind his ear. He also had a scar the size of a quarter. This close inspection of the back of his head made me notice that what seemed to be his ear, was actually a fake ear. I'm so thankful not to be missing any of my body parts.

The person I saw that had the most impact on me was on my last flight to Asheville. I didn't see him until he was right there in front of me and I was completely shocked. He looked like someone off of a movie. It looked like his entire body had been burned. Both of his hands were gone. His ears, nose, lips and hair were also gone. He smiled and said hello to me, then took his bags that were looped around his arms and went to sit down. I was concerned about who would sit by him in case they would be rude or mean to him. A businessman sat there and they smiled and talked for most of the flight. As I sat and looked at him I couldn't help but think how that could be any one of us. I would have liked to know what happened to him. I wondered what he looked like before and what his family or loved ones thought of him. Watching him interract with the man next to him made me realize that I needed to make sure I didn't let his outside make me treat him any differently. He stil had the same personality underneath, still felt the same, thought the same, as someone with normal skin. He had friendly brown eyes and as he got off the plane he commented on how gorgeous it was up in Asheville and how much he loved it. It made me so thankful for what God has NOT allowed to happen to me and reminded me that regardless of appearance we all deserve the same love and kindness.

I finished this at home. My family got home so I stopped writing. Today was a good day. My life is good. My family is wonderful. My friends are as well. I'm very blessed to have 10 fingers, 10 toes, eyes, ears, a functioning brain and body. My belly is full so now I'm going to chill on the couch and watch tv with my friends until I feel like going to sleep.