Translated…
“Mr. Liu, can you, give me a hug, please?”
Toward that face that’s begging me, I was, stunned for a bit, then, I’d, taken him into my arms, and, all of a sudden, I felt, that he was, so very emotional, as he, started, getting deeper into my chest………
The reason why I was, first, stunned was because, Yuan, during our previous meetings, had never done anything like this before, and that day, he’d made this request, it’d, surprised me. Then after that, I’d realized, that Yuan, who’d lost his arms in a car accident, was too shy, to ask me for a hug; and I was, so afraid that I might make him uncomfortable, that I’d not, shaken his hand either, let along, hugging him.
from the newspapers…
Five years ago, this group of us, old friends who’d gone out hiking together went on a hiking trail on the weekends, and once, Hsu suggested, “We’re getting older now, we should, do more meaningful things, what do you all say?”, and everybody raised their arms to agree, and, so, we’d started, going to the orphanages or the family centers, to visit those friends who are without families, or are, handicapped. The first time I’d come to this particular orphanage, I saw Yuan at first sight, with a pencil in his mouth, sketching something; I’d stood, quietly by him, watching, a short while later, he’d, lifted his head, saw me, and then asked, “Did I draw well?”, “It’s amazing, you are, such, an amazing artist!”, I couldn’t help, but applauded him.
The second time I’d, visited Yuan, I’d brought along some tools for drawing as a present to him, including watercolor and paintbrushes, hoped, that he can, find a wonderful world, all his own. Yuan was so excited, he kept thanking me, and said, that he will, paint many wonderful things like the handicapped artists, Yang and Hsieh too, to enrich his own life, and to make up for losing his own two hands.
a woman who painted with her mouth, photo from online…
Wow, “to make up for losing his own two hands,”, it’d made me want to salute him, who’s just starting out in middle school, thinking about, how many people who had a healthy body, who’d not done anything good, they can really, learn a lot from Yuan!
“Uncle Liu, I’d entered into the arts competition sponsored by the local government and won second place this year!”, that day, I saw Yuan again, and he’d announced this wonderful news to me, and turns out, that, was the purpose of him, wanting me to hug him, because, in giving him that hug, he’d felt, enormous strength, and we can feel, our body temperatures in one another’s arms too.
a masterpiece, by someone, drawing with his mouth, from online…
So, this, was the success story of how an abandoned child overcome and chased his dreams, and managed to, achieve greatness, and this just shows, how sometimes, all you need to show, is a little bit of kindness, to change someone else’s life…
Life, the Obstacle Course 