From NeedU on 8/27/2007 1:47:16 AM

Who made a difference in my life? For the sake of brevity, I will just use a single example where one person made a difference. Who shall it be ~ an Astronaut, a Doctor, a Teacher, a Priest?

Nah…

It was a young patient named Robert ~ sunken cheeks and pale white skin suffering from cerebral palsy. Although he was intelligent, he did not talk except to count aloud.

During night rounds, I would slip into his room and there he’d be ~ counting.

1,2,3,4,5,5,6,…….7…….7….8,9,10 and so on.

This went on for hours. This is what he did. He was a “counter”.

I was intrigued by Robert’s counting. I smiled at his mother one day while he was counting and asked, “ Does he always do that?”

Her answer ~ “Yes, but he never gets beyond 25 and he only counts aloud when he’s happy”.

“ Do you think he’s happy now?” I asked.

“ Oh sure! He’s very happy. He’s reached 25 twice in the last two days, that’s very good!”

I had been introduced to a new scale of success and accomplishment.

I shared this discovery with the other nurses and we began to listen to his tone, his speed, did he drone off or did he go all the way to 25.

Then one day it happened.
At lunch, one of the nurses said, “Hey get this – Robert went to 35!”

We were amazed. It was like he had climbed to the top of Everest.

After awhile we all found ourselves counting to 25. We began to say “25” in place of “ok” or “cool”.

One day, a nurse came running down the hall and shouted breathlessly,

“He’s counting again!” And we smiled.

But then she said something else ~ “…AND HE'S UP TO 50!”

We all bolted into Robert’s room. Sure enough, he was counting ~

51, 52, 53, 54….

Then the day came when Robert touched our souls. He was counting again ~ clearer and more deliberate

90…….91……..92……93…….94…………..95………….96……

97

98

and at 99 he stopped.

For a full minute we all stood there and willed him to say his first three digit number in his life ~ and then his whole body strained his arms went up and he said it with a roar.

100!!!!!!!!

We all clapped and shouted and let out a yell. Robert clapped too. I was amazed at how this simple basic human act of communication had affected us all.

I approached Robert slowly, not wanting to startle or upset him. “You did it Robert, you did it”

Then he said his first words ~

“Yes, I did”.

Until then I wasn’t sure he could talk, but until then I don’t think I could have really listened anyway.

I felt that I had witnessed Mallory climbing to the top of Everest, and in some small way I had. I had seen a young boy accomplish a great task and the simple majesty of it reminded me of the miracle of human life.

Yep ~ wee Robert made a difference. You can too! :-D

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Have a GRAND Day, SMILE and remember ~

One step at a time ~

Count out loud - Okay?