the illustration is from the papers…
Using love, to break ALL the barriers here, translated…
She’d described the process as hiking up a mountain, from the valley she’d fallen into, slowly, climbing back up to the peaks, at which time, she’d felt, very achieved, and realized, that there’s a, great view, looking downward again, she’d found, that everything had, faded away slowly………
All of my emotions flooded back up to the surface, as I took that long stroll after supper.
Ya-Huei asked me, “Can we walk slower?”
At which time, that was when I’d realized, that the guide dog who’d accompanied her, Tashi, had aged, “He’s walking real slow, but worked really hard, to try to take me to where I wanted to go………”, then, her voice became, muffled.
My mood sank down to the troughs too, I’d just gone through setting up my mother’s funeral processions, the cold wind blew by, walked on the streets, the mother-daughter pair who were beside me started discussing what they’re having for supper, “Mom, you must buy more mushrooms!”, and, as casual and careless as the discussion went on, it’d, impacted me hard, all of a sudden, my tears flooded downward, I’d hid in the darkened corners of the streets, and sobbed gently, I’d started, crying so very hard. A few months ago, I was like that girl, holding on to my mom’s hand, and now, I’d lost the person who’d loved me the most in this world.
Right at the moment, I was, reminded of Ya-Huei. Over the years, every time I’d felt awful, I’d gotten reminded of her, thinking of how an explosion from a science lab from a little over a decade ago had caused her face to be destroyed, she’d lost her sense of sight too, how, did she get through this sort of pain; she must have a strong force inside of her, to get her to where she is currently!
The Passage of Healing is Like Climbing Up a Mountain
As we’d first met, she’d just gotten Tashi, back then, our discussion topics revolved around sight dogs. But, my very first impression of her was her optimistic laughter, she’d love to laugh, she’d smiled at every single word you’d said to her, and even as she looked focused listening to your words, she’d still worn that smile on her face, her laughter had, covered up the creases on her skin from the skin grafts as well from the sunken skin of her eyes. I thought, for someone who’d had such difficulties, how can she laugh like this?
That was, a bright and fresh morning, she’d rode her motorcycle from the mountainside of Hsintien to the schools. The blue skies, the white clouds, with the rays of the sun, shining down, brightened her youth. Back then, she was only twenty-three, in her first year of her master’s program. After she’d parked, she’d walked, hurriedly into the laboratory, then, the misfortunes started right after that.
The moment of explosion, she’d felt burned all over her body, heated and in pain, but she was still conscious. She’d heard the sirens from the ambulance sounding off, screamed so loudly into her ears………, the very next scene she’d recalled was the hospital, she’d heard the voices all around, discussing her, “She’s so scary!” “Why does her face look so petrifying?”
She’d annotated, “c’est la vie! You would bump into things outside of your imaginations!”, her tone stated, that she’d seen things clearly, but in reality, it’s not, so at all.
At first, there was, darkness, before her eyes, she can only walk forward five meters, after she’d gained her self-confidence, she’d walked further, to ten meters, fifteen………at the same time, she’d gone through the reconstructions of her facial structures, from originally not daring to head outside, to going out for one minute, rushed home to hide, then, two minutes outside the house, ten minutes, slowly, she was able to, get herself away from her doors, and felt out how others looked upon her as, “Actually, I’d, wanted to escape, but if I don’t face it now, then, it would become more difficulty later on, this, is as bad as it gets.”
I’d asked her how long it took her, to get out from the pains, she’d told me, she’d never actually, measured the length of the road to her own recovery. But she’d described the process of healing back up as hiking up a mountain, from falling into the valleys, to slowly, climbing back up, toward the top, at which time, she’d felt very much achieved, and realized, that the view was amazing up in the mountains, then, she’d, looked back down where she’d come, and, everything became, a cleared sky. These couple of years, she’d never gotten into disagreement with anybody, even her attitude, because more tolerating, and that, was the strength she’d gained, from her sufferings.
Later on, she’d had, eyebrow implants, and did her facial reconstruction via laser surgery, and now, as people see the scars, they’d all said it was, the scars from her pimples!
Diluting Her Feelings with Walking
On the sidewalks, every now and then, Ya-Huei would bump into another pedestrian, she’d acted courteous, “I’m sorry, are you all right?”, the person she’d bumped into didn’t pay her much heed at first, but, as he’d lifted his head, looked at her, then, looked at her guide dog, he’d said, “No, no, no, I’m fine, you need to be careful!”
As they’d walked on, they’d met a dog, and, Tashi became, timid, hid behind Ya-Huei, turns out, that she was once, attacked by a stray, and still remembered the incident; I was reminded of how when Ya-Huei went to the restrooms in the restaurants, Tashi had, followed her, because she feared not seeing her owner. And so, Ya-Huei had, begged her parents to become foster parents to Tashi, that way, she’d have, no worries. (the working guide dogs would work until they’re ten, then retire, and the loved ones of the person the dog is guiding has the priority to adopt the dog.)
Actually, Ya-Huei was also, faced with another difficulty, because the nine-year-old Tashi is about to retire. The seven years they’d lived side-by-side, I can imagine the defeats she may encounter without her dog. “Are you worried?” No, in the past over a decade’s time, she’d accepted the cares and concerns from the unknown hands, it’d given her enough courage, that she can live alone just fine; just like how the gentle concerns from that unknown stranger she’d bumped into on the streets had, warmed up her heart too. she said, the pains wouldn’t stay in your heart too long, I believe, that I will, return back to my normal routines shortly.
This is a long road that we’d found ourselves to be on, we’d followed Tashi as she’d led us on, she’d stopped when she was tired, she’d stepped out, then, we’d stepped out behind her too. We’d not wanted to rest at all, perhaps, we’re both, trying, to walk, to dilute our emotions, I suppose!
These couple of years, Ya-Huei had used her special experiences and inspired others spiritually. Actually that evening, she’d not given mem any comfort at all, at most, she’d talked about her past with me, talked about how she was doing recently, what was going on with her now. I don’t know which words of hers had, saved me from my own low, but, as the gentle breeze blew on, all of a sudden, I’d, melted, into the night breeze, and, I’d become, healed.
I felt, that her presence in my life is to let me know one thing: that our heart, is stronger than we’d imagined it to be; to not be afraid to get hurt, the deeper the heart, the stronger you’d become after you’d healed, everything will pass.
And so, this, is how you can feel better, with the friend’s accompaniment, like the lady who’d become blind in the above, she’d gone through the most awful thing that anybody can imagine, and yet, look at her now, she’s very optimistic, full of hope for her own future, has a ton of aspirations for her life, and, if she, who’d lost her sight can overcome her difficulties, making the recoveries from her loss, so can an ordinary person too.