she's human too....

I was in an old folks' home last weekend doing some visiting. While I was there, I witnessed a rather unfortunate situation. There was an elderly lady lying on the bed and she was unfortunately suffers from down syndrome.

While I sat there, she started talking to me. She might have been talking to me but I really had no idea what she was saying because the words that came out of her mouth were simply too mixed up to tell exactly what she was trying to tell me.

I could only nod to show her I was listening but I couldn't respond. I couldn't possibly respond to something I didn't understand. She kept going on and on, and I just kept on nodding. I didn't really know what else to do or what to say.

A nurse passing by noticed my "conversation" with her and I guess the nurse was concerned that I might have felt uncomfortable having to go listen to her "talking" to me. The nurse said I could ignore her if I wanted to, knowing that having to talk to a person of such circumstances wasn't exactly an everyday experience.

I asked the nurse whether she "talked" to people all the time.

She replied, "No, not really. Helen is generally very reserved. Keeps to herself and does sketching," and pointed to the wall just behind her bed. "Those are her sketches. She's really talented with sketching. She spontaneously sketches stuff she sees on tv!"

If the nurse hadn't told me those where her sketches, I would have thought those were purchased sketches for decorations. As I admired the sketches, I said, "It such a waste she God decided to make her who she is now. Her artwork could have been a pathway to a rewarding career as an artist."

The nurse look at me and said, "I don't think it's a waste. Personally, God must have His reasons for bring her into this world. She may be lacking in most of aspects as opposed to being normal. She may not be able to sketch this well if she was born normal. Helen may not be able to express herself verbally, but she expresses herself vividly through her sketches. Take a look at all the sketches. Each sketch represents some sort of emotion."

The nurse pointed to each sketch pointing out what they represented - happiness, pain, hurt, love, loneliness.

I was awed. Truly awed by how deep each sketch meant to Helen.

"Helen may suffer from down syndrome but she's human too. She's just different from you and I. We are probably not normal in her eyes. God probably wanted you to meet Helen. She hasn't had visitors over the 3 years she's been here. So happened you were sitting close to her and you provided some sort of company for her. I am sure she appreciates your company.........."

it's just rough.... it don't mean you can't scale it

Two weeks ago, I had another session of rock climbing. That session was by far the toughest rock climb I have ever done thus far. I scaled only one route, of which took me almost an hour to scale. By the time I got down after the successful climb, every limb on my body just went as soft as bean curd. I had no strength for any other climbs after that.

Finishing the climb was definitely one of the best feelings at that point in time. Especially the fact that I took almost an hour to climb it. But that climb was one of the best climbs I have done so far not because of me finishing the climb or me doing anything magnificent to scale the route. The best part of that climb was the people on the ground.

I think there were at least three parts of the route where I really struggled and simply wanted to shout down to my belayer, "bring me back down!". Honest to heart, I really felt like giving up. At the third point when it got so tough, my fingers, toes, forearms and thighs were burning from the strain and all the lactic acids building up from all the energy expended.

As I struggled up the route, I could hear voices of all my climbing buddies encouraging me to push on the route. It was an amazing feeling! Having a few people behind you pushing and really garnering you on is one good feeling.

It's like being really down and out, feeling hopeless, and suddenly you find a pair of hands reaching out to you reassuring you that you are not alone and that you are doing fine. It's like having a Powerbar when you most need it and you find a hand passing you that needed Powerbar.

When I came back down after the climb, I was really exhausted and tired but I learned something more then climbing. No one person can handle everything on his or her own. Even the most skilled climber requires a trustworthy belayer. Like any world champion, there's always a strong team behind him or her.

Other key learning point - rock climbing routes range from easy ones to really tough ones. But at the end of the day, it's just a rough route and it doesn't mean you can't scale it. You probably just need more time and concentration.

the moment

For four years, the Fender electric guitar Reily used to play with his band that nearly broke through to mainstream has been left in the corner of his room. Reily simply couldn't play the guitar the way he used to anymore.

Every time he held the guitar, his fingers would freeze up and simply couldn't move and the notes in the depths of his memories would never flow on to his fingers despite all certainty he knew he had the music in him.

Four years ago, Reily lost his family in a car accident involving their family car and a trailer. The accident happened when Reily had to play for a gig with his band. Reily has always been blaming himself for the lost of his family.

Four years ago, he had an argument with his father who insisted he should skip the gig to join his family trip. Soon after the argument, he stomped right out of the house and left for the gig. His family went on ahead with the trip and met their unfortunate fate. Reily holds himself at fault for causing their death. Had it not been the argument, his father would have been in a better state to drive. From that day on, Reily lost all musical sense and could no longer play the guitar. His fingers too heavy with guilt.

He never listened to any recordings of his band from that day onwards. Reily didn't think he was ever going to do music again in his lifetime.

Not until one day when he met this girl. A girl who simply needed a place to stay when the orphanage she lived in was closed down after sponsors pulled out due to the financial crises.

It all started when Reily found her sleeping by his apartment door one morning. Not knowing what else to do, he found himself taking her in and in return she was to help with the housework. She was Venna, at least that's the name she remembered being called when she was still living in the orphanage.

While cleaning the Reily's apartment one afternoon, she noticed the guitar and couldn't help but ask Reily to play a tune or two. She noticed a change in his demeanor as he declined to play the guitar.

She didn't understood why he refused to play the guitar. Not until one day she stumbled upon an old CD recording of Reily's band and saw Reily's picture in the CD booklet. Venna played the CD and immediately couldn't help but notice Reily's incredible talent for the guitar. It was at that moment, Venna realized that there was something hindering Reily's ability to play the guitar and she wanted to do something for him in return for taking her in. She wanted Reily to get back into music and to get out from his sad state of working part time job in a fast food restaurant.

As the months went by, Venna diligently practiced singing the song she heard from the CD with the hope of singing it to Reily. At the same time, Reily and Venna drew closer and closer to each other.

One evening, while taking a stroll down the beach nearby the apartment, Reily and Venna simply held hands as they strolled the quiet beach with Venna's head on Reily's shoulder. It was an impulse reaction and it somehow just felt right between the both of them.

That moment at the beach was the moment Venna knew what to do - she sang the song she heard in the CD. Reily was surprised she knew the song and didn't say anything. He simply felt the warmth in his heart and he could feel the emotions Venna had in her singing. At that moment, Reily could feel the music in him coming out and breaking free from the emotional prison he had built inside him. It became the moment he decided he was going to go back into music.

People come, people go in our lives. We live through a myriad of experiences - some sad, some happy. But all it needs at times is for one special moment in life to open a box of sparkle in each and everyone of us......... that is "the moment".