*Heart touching story*
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the
same hospital room. One man was allowed
to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain
the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to
the room’s only window. The other man had
to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end.
They spoke
of their wives and families, their homes, their
jobs, their involvement in the military service,
where they had been on vacation. And ever
afternoon when the man in the bed next to
the window could sit up, he would pass the
time by describing to his roommate all the
things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed would live for
those one-hour periods where his world
would be broadened and enlivened by all the
activity and color of the outside world. The
window overlooked a park with a lovely lake,
the man had said. Ducks and swans played
on the water while children sailed their
model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid
flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand
old trees graced the landscape, and a fine
view of the city skyline could be seen in the
distance. As the man by the window
described all this in exquisite detail, the man
on the other side of the room would close
his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by the
window described a parade passing by.
Although the other man could not hear the
band, he could see it in his mind’s eye as the
gentleman by the window portrayed it with
beautiful descriptive words.
One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring
water for their baths only to find the lifeless
body of the man by the window, who had
died peacefully in his sleep. She was
saddened and called the hospital attendant
to take the body away.
As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man
asked if he could be moved next to the
window. The nurse was happy to make the
switch and after making sure he was
comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on
one elbow to take his first look at the real
world outside.
He strained to slowly turn to look out the
window beside the bed. It faced a blank
wall.The man asked the nurse what could
have compelled his deceased roommate who
had described such wonderful things
outside this window.
The nurse responded that the man was blind
and not even see the wall. She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”
The lesson: There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.