Short and sweet

My visit today was really short and brief. I arrived in the morning just as she was going to physiotherapy. So, I sat on the side watching her go around the gym with her right hand on a table on wheels. Practicing balance and walking by herself. She had done some balancing and coordination exercises. I could see the big improvements in her mobility.

She still drags that walker around. When she finished, she put her bag on one of the handles and off she went to the next session with the occupational therapist. We visited a couple of minutes on the way and then I had to go back to work.

During the pysio, she concentrated hard on the tasks she was asked to do. Like and athlete, psyching herself up to go for a record. But of course, Jan always does everything with the same intensity. There is a streak of fearlessness and determination that must come from her core. Daring, courageous, but tender at the same time. Jan, the woman with the majestic soul of an eagle.

We kissed good-bye and off she went to her next session, greeting everyone on her way: Hi there... Hi here... Hi. She looked so casual and relaxed, as if she was walking in the park. I felt glad to know this woman. For a moment -as it often happens to me-, I forgot that she is a survivor of a SAH aneurysm, that she had been in a coma for two weeks, that six weeks ago she couldn't talk, or walk.

I could hear her heart singing: "we shall overcome".