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Thursday, January 10, 2002 This afternoon: went to the gym -– not so unusual, me being the specimen of, er, manliness that I am. Afterward, as I followed Elvis' example and left the building, I stopped to zip up my jacket then sauntered down the block to the Metro. Rush hour was getting underway, lots of folks were about. And just ahead a woman with a stroller began backing into the entryway of a building to open the door before pulling the stroller in behind her. I think what caught my attention was the size of the stroller, larger than your garden-variety model, and as I approached I saw that the body in it was likewise larger than your garden-variety toddler. Turned out it wasn't a toddler at all -- it was a little guy of indeterminate age, the kind of person who might be called retarded by those who don't know what other label to slap on him. Could have been anywhere between 8 and 18 years of age, affected by any number of maladies or 'limitations,' his body curled up, maybe not capable of a great deal of movement, and interestingly, he bore a distinct resemblance to Stephen Hawking. I gave him a smile as I went by, he in turn gave me a smile of such magnitude that I couldn't help but smile even more in return. He smiled at me like it came from every part of his body, as if every cell in that little being were smiling at me. And for a wonderful moment we regarded each other like that, and then I was past, continuing toward the Metro entrance, still smiling. A simple encounter, sending me down the street feeling all kinds of things. Happiness, mostly. But also the occasional sensation of rising tears. I am, of course, far too, er, something to allow that to come out into the open on a crowded rush-hour Metro trip. But it was interesting to suddenly, unexpectedly find myself feeling it all. This life of ours -- one never really knows what's waiting up around the next corner. rws 1:26 PM [+] |