I’ve written before about my next door neighbor. He and his wheelchair-bound wife love to travel, in spite of the challenges that accompany disability. Right now, they’re riding AmTrak from Chicago to Oregon, enjoying the majesty of the American West. They’ve also visited Ireland, Hawaii, Florida, and Glacier National Park. Each time he returns from one of these ventures, Brian and I meet at the fence while he tells me about his most recent travels. Key West seems to come up in every conversation, which always reminds me to put this destination on my “bucket list.”
Brian recounts all these experiences with the exuberance of a child. He operates a successful small business out of his home, yet he and his wife take time for trips that carry them far away from their weekly routines.
I thank God for the lessons I’m learning from my neighbor: to stop and smell the roses, to step out into the unknown, to breathe clean air in the great outdoors, and to be grateful for the joy of it all. I’m humbled by Brian, because he notices and appreciates things that I too often take for granted. And he does this in spite of the fact that he cannot see. Yes, Brian has been blind from birth, but that will never keep him from witnessing the wonder of our world. May we all take time to do likewise.