It is a quiet Sunday, sunny; it will be hot. It is early.
He has already showered, done his exercises, meditated, had breakfast…
Music accompanies the beginning of the day: Amen by Otis Redding, Ya Rayah by Rachid Taha (a very popular song in the Arab world; he has always had a particular affection for Arabic music), Afternoon in Paris by Stéphane Grappelli (jazz and violin), Traveller by Anoushka Shankar…
He goes out to his terrace and sits in a comfortable armchair, one of the two that have accompanied him for years. Hellen, his wife, brings him a coffee.
There he has everything: terrace, coffee, music, a beautiful setting, a glass of water…
Memories of so many terraces.
Before the accident, in this same situation, he would have been smoking a cigarette.
Relaxed and calm, he thinks: the accident happened in winter. That left him spring, summer and, he supposes, autumn in which to recover.
How would he have lived that same rehabilitation if it had taken place in winter?
One of those questions that will never have an answer.
Relaxed and calm, he looks back, though not very far. Only to the present month, the first of the year.
He walks with crutches, goes up and down steps (his house has many), though he still does not manage stairs. He takes short walks around his house and garden, drives his pickup alone, without help or company, goes to his physiotherapy sessions, runs an errand in the neighbouring town, goes to see a friend.
He can also take a walk with his children, take them to a skate park, or go out for pizza.
Each day he devotes some time to “household tasks”: repairing his daughter’s bicycle, fixing a latch on the door of his pickup, hanging laundry to dry, having breakfast or lunch with his children…
Small details of daily life.
Yet considerable personal achievements.
Leave a Reply