An
Inspirational Story
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.
One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help
drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room’s only window. The
other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours
on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their
involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.
Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could
sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he
could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those
one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the
activity and color of the world outside.
The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and
swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers
walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city
skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all
this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his
eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade
passing by. Although the other man couldn’t hear the band – he could see it. In
his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive
words.
Days and weeks passed.
One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their
baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died
peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to
take the body away.
As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he
could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and
after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he
propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world
outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.
It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could
have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things
outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not
even see the wall. She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”
Source: http://academictips.org/blogs/moral-tale-hospital-window/
No comments:
Post a Comment