glimmer of hope

I was in the self-checkout at the grocery store, when I overheard a man talking to the woman at the station in front of me about "a z-cut...some thing they do for people with CP".  I excused myself for overhearing, but then told the man that I myself had had that procedure done when I was a child.  The man, whom I had never met, informed me that he and his wife had just learned that their 4yo daughter was going to need the same procedure, for the same form of CP as I am diagnosed with. 

The man, Patrick, thanked me multiple times for talking with him as he asked questions about what I had gone through and I listened to what his daughter, their 3rd of 4 children, was experiencing.  He said, after they had received the diagnosis, he and his wife, had gone to the mall to people-watch in hopes of seeing someone who walked they way their daughter did.  He said they had never met anyone with CP before.

I spent about 20 mins with the man, in the self-scan at Hannafords. I gave him hope. All because I'd overheard two strangers.

A similar thing happened at church two weeks ago.  A young couple was there with their son, likely to also receive the diagnosis, but doctors say it is too early to really tell.  I had a similar conversation with them, as I did with the man in the supermarket.  Another instance of one stranger helping another.

In both instances, I acknowlegded the barriers, mostly internal, that I have with maintaining my overall health.  The issue goes deeper than that though.  I seem to be in an odd place right now.  I am writing a lot about my CP...there is some sort of internal struggle that I haven't been able to wrap my head around.  Perhaps it's because I am having difficulty getting around in ways that previously I had not...at least not for a while.  I wonder too how much Kate's participation in derby, something I cannot nor will I be able to engage in fully with her.  This is a first for me...something that I cannot seem to find a way around or adapt in a way that it can still be effective.  Regardless of what it is...I need to get my head on straight.  Perhaps these two instances were a message that it is time to get serious and make the necessary changes.