Last Saturday evening my friend BW was heading to a concert in a college town in southern Idaho with a friend. They were crossing the street at a crosswalk when a car hit them both, throwing them into the air. My friend BW suffered multiple injuries from the accident. Her friend didn't survive the accident. As BW lays in a hospital bed with a broken hip, leg, and ribs she is trying to manage the pain. She also struggles with the fogginess from the concussion. When she first woke up after the accident she was concerned about her dogs, the lesson plans for school, and her many obligations that are first and foremost in her life. She has had to let go and let her body and mind heal.
In the collection of poems Ten Poems to Change Your Life compiled by Roger Housden , the following poem reminded me of the journey ahead for BW. She is blessed to have a support system of colleagues, church members, and friends around her as she embarks on the journey of recovery.
My prayers are with you BW... keep up the fight!!
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save.
-Mary Oliver
In the collection of poems Ten Poems to Change Your Life compiled by Roger Housden , the following poem reminded me of the journey ahead for BW. She is blessed to have a support system of colleagues, church members, and friends around her as she embarks on the journey of recovery.
My prayers are with you BW... keep up the fight!!
The Journey
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice --
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save
the only life you could save.
-Mary Oliver
