I’ve been everywhere

I’ve been everywhere. I have been to over twenty-two countries and I have experienced eighteen languages. I have gotten into a lot of different thing, some good things and some bad things. I have been hurt and also broken many times throughout my life. I have sat through many school exams often times knowing the right answers, but I have no mouth to speak up. I have a phobia of many things. I fear hammers, doors and germs. I have many friends but they are hard to reach. I’m always lonely and always just observing my surroundings. I love showers but I hate the grooming I get after. I would rather be groomed though than bit. My owner needs to be careful not to bite or groom me too far back for I can be very painful for him. When I’m softer it isn’t as painful for me. I will sometime collect bacteria and have to be removed. I don’t like being separated from my friends. I have been shaken a lot, mostly from other people. I am happy though that I can see things that are high and that are low. I can often see things that my owner cannot. I can see inside high selves or I can see things in tight spaces. I can witness things in the sky when my owner is stretching or stuff in the grass when my owner is doing pushups. If I lose a part of myself I can slowly grow it back. If I lose a part of me my owner has to make sure that the area around me is more sterile than when I have all of me. As long as my owner is alive I stay alive. Even after my owner passes away I’m normally the last thing to go. I can be long or I can be short. But if longer I break easier and my owner must be careful with me. I have scraped many things off of all kinds of stuff. Without me you couldn’t remove window clings, adhesive or gum from the bottom of your shoe. But the worst thing of all is when my owner puts me in the worst place ever, his nose! I hate it. It is dark and has a weird texture and I’m always the one who is retrieve what my owner is going for. I pray that he washes his hands afterwards but it normally just finds a way of making it to a pant leg of his jeans. Another good thing about me is that I’m one of the healthiest parts of my owner’s external frame. I’m made mostly of calcium. This also makes me really strong. I enjoy being what I am. I love the traveling that I get to do and the place that I get to experience. Most of the people I interact with seem nice, but I always know who the ones are who don’t like to wash their hands after using the restroom. Overall I’m fairly happy. As long as I don’t have to enter into wet, dark and slimy places I’m normally pretty pleased.  

Every Day I Watch

I have never met the man but I feel as though I don’t need to. I feel like I already know him without ever talking to him. I don’t even know his name but I know everything about his character. He is kind, caring, and is always up for a quick chat with the locals. The reason that I feel that I’m so close to him is because for the past six months I have followed him on his daily journey. I never have to worry about him seeing me because he has no sight. I have to follow him though with distance because he has a great sense of hearing. You may ask why I have so much time on my hands to follow someone everyday for the past six months, but I have been retired for the past year. I’m a retired school bus driver for Clinton Woods public school system. I enjoyed it very much. I loved talking to the kids’ everyday as they step onto the bus. Every day I would bring Granola Bars and give them to the kids as they walked off the bus. I always felt that if I’m not being a good person then what is life all about? This is exactly why I took an interest in the man who walks his same path every day. I have noticed this man for years now. I live in an apartment above the café where he gets his daily bread and coffee. I noticed how kind he always is. I would start to follow him from the time he left the café. He would always go to the famous tobacco field that we have here in Reidsville, North Carolina. He would just lay there. He would often sing old church hymns. Every time that an airplane would fly over head he would stop singing and listen. He would often smile. I never really knew what he was thinking about as they passed over. He just looked always so peaceful. Maybe he was just imaging all the people that were on board and maybe where all they were going. I have never met anyone like him. After leaving the field he always goes to Gardens Walk nursing home. He always plays games with the elderly. They discuss stories and things that they have all accomplished. After he leaves the residence always have a smile on their faces that goes ear to ear. He then will casually walk home. I couldn’t wait for the next day to come. Seeing him making others happy and seeing how he can simply bring so much happiness to himself make me smile. Months and months go by and I proceed with the same routine. Until one day I didn’t see him. I thought maybe I just missed him coming out of the café so I went to the tobacco field where I thought he would be, but there was no sign of him. I went to the café and asked the owner if he had seen the blind man. He told me that he was admitted to Shaddy Oaks Hospital. Immediately after leaving the café I went straight to the hospital. Without knowing his name it made it extremely difficult to locate him, but finally I did. As I was walking into the room a nurse was walking out. I asked her exactly what was wrong. She said that he has been fighting cancer for eight years now. He has been in remission but it has come back and it doesn’t look good this time. It has spread to his spine and this made it impossible for doctors to contain it. After the nurse preceded by me I slowly entered the room. Seeing the man hooked up to oxygen and looking so frail just killed me. I sat down in the chair next to his bed. I saw the man turn his head toward me as if he could see me. He then opened his mouth and said, “So you followed me here as well.” I thought to myself how he knows that I have been following him. So I asked him just that. He went on to explain that being blind give you other great senses. He went on to describe how he can sense things on a high level than most people can. He said that he just always felt me in his presence. I then noticed that it was getting harder to breathe for him. I knew that his time was drawing near. He finally looked in my direction and said, “thank you!” I said for what? He motioned for me to come closer. I leaned in and he said, “thank you for….” At that moment his heart monitor was still. His chest no longer rose. I immediately teared up. I exited the room and found the nurse. I told her what happened. She said that he would have normally gone earlier but he seemed to be waiting for someone. I guess that person was you. I gently smiled. I turned around to look in the room once more. My eye caught the room number by the door frame. Under the number I saw that his name was James. After all this time I finally know his name. That night it kept bothering me as to what he wanted to say to me. What was he trying to tell me? I thought about it and realized that he wanted to thank me for continuing his work. He knew that it would happen. He brought so much happiness to the people and I couldn’t just let that stop. So every day I would trace his steps and fulfill what he would have wanted. To simply spread happiness with just being kind.

Amazing Life

My feet press softly against the soft ground covered with leaves. I take a deep breath and smell the fresh morning air as I begin my journey down the trail with man’s best friend, as I walk and take in every sound and smell that I can. I hear the morning birds chirping and the crickets starting to wind down from the night before. I smell the dew covered trees, and the fresh smell of what’s left of the wild flowers. I feel an amazing sense of peace. I feel so blessed to be able to enjoy all of what is surrounding me. I block out everything that is wrong with the world and focus on the good nature around me. I enjoy watching my dog as he picks up every cent that he comes upon. I find myself sitting still on a rugged bench that doesn’t seem it has been sat on for years. I sit and watch the leaves fall into the water one by one. I love all the vibrant colors that surround me. I enjoy every second of what I’m experiencing. It is amazing to me how one day I’m caught up in all the everyday life things such as school, work, and owning my own business to the soft gentle mood that the forest offers to me. Life is truly good!