One day last week, Josh told me a story about his son, Matthew.
Matthew had become enchanted by a leaf he had found on the sidewalk. Just a simple leaf. The kind of thing that adults can step on everyday without a second thought, but Matthew and his father spent some time conducting research to determine what type of tree it had fallen from as well as admiring how perfect, how handsome a specimen it was.
Josh finished the story by talking about the enjoyment he gets out of seeing the world through his young son’s eyes, “It’s too bad adults can’t keep that sense of wonder, that they stop seeing how beautiful everyday things can be.”
That story about Matthew reminded me of a patient that I cared for years ago. The old man spent a lot of time staring out the window. Because his room was on one of the upper stories of the hospital, his view was limited to the abandoned facilities plant at the college next door. One day I asked him what he was looking at. He pointed out the window and replied, “At the smoke stack. Some people may not be able to see it, but it is beautiful, you know.”
Against a striking blue sky and soft white clouds, rose a slender, red-brick cylinder, broader at the base, tapering to a graceful silhouette. It was probably older than the old man. Built during an age when aesthetics was considered an integral part of form and function, the chimney still stood straight and tall, no longer utilitarian, but as proud as the day it was first built. The old man was right, it was beautiful.
A young boy, an old man. Look down, look up. Just look.
Matthew, As the song says, I hope you never lose your sense of wonder. And I hope you always share it with your father. He's an adult; he needs all the help he can get.
No comments:
Post a Comment