A Story
Author Unknown
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.
And 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 of the
rainbow.
Grand old trees graced the landscape, 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 world outside.
Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. 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."
Epilogue. . . .There is tremendous happiness in making others happy,
despite our own situations.
Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.
If you want to feel rich,
just count all of the things you have that money can't buy.
Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have.
You will
treasure it even more when you can
share it with someone special.
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