On Being Grateful for Turning 22

For each new morning with its light, for rest and shelter of the night,
for health and food, for love and friends, for everything thy goodness sends.
When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears.
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Let me introduce you to this friend of mine.

Due to patient confidentiality, I shall not tell you his name. He is 21 years old this year, was unfortunate to be born with cerebral palsy. We're not sure what type of cerebral palsy he has, but it seems like he hasn't been growing.

He isn't able to talk. And the only words that comes out from his mouth is "Aaah ahhh". But his mother said he was able to understand commands. That when they told her to go to sleep after he finished his lunch, he would. That when they say goodbye to him before leaving for work, he would look at them with his teary eyes.

He isn't able to walk. But he drags himself on his butt. His limbs are really wasted, as in, you can basically see all the bones underneath the skin. His mother told us that he hasn't been putting on any weights for the last few weeks. She even showed us his identification card, and he was such a handsome young man in that picture.

But there he was, lying on the bed, looking at us and wanting so much to talk, but unable to. At 21, he is basically just the age of a 2 years old. We asked his mother if she ever noticed him growing. He did. At the age of two, he was basically still a baby. But they moved house, and he grew larger. But he never seemed to grow any bigger for the past few years.

We asked a question seemingly cruel to some, did his doctor ever tell her how long he's going to live? And she said she doesn't know. She doesn't care either. She will take care of him no matter what. That she never could leave him with a special kid care centre, after all he is her son as much as his other siblings are.

We salute her on the spot. And we salute him for being so strong.

And I came back thinking about us. About me. How grateful I should be! That I'm born normal. That I'm able to talk and walk. And able to drive a car and go out every other evenings dining outside. To have parents and siblings who love me more than their lives. To have friends who care and share the joy and laughter with. To have everything I wanted. To have been accepted into a medical school and last but not least, to come to know many more doctors in the making who ended up as close as my siblings, living through hardship and pressure together.

We never really think about that do we? We always took it forgranted.

And I know I'm just talking about myself.

But here I am, at the age of 22, I solemnly thank everyone and everything for what I have. My family. My friends, especially my brothers and my sisters in arms. my groupmembers and my housemates. My education, my school. My life. My car, my gadgets. My shoes and ties. My blog (and all the good friends I meet through Medielicious, and you my buddy). And everything I ever had and have and will have. I'm grateful for what you all have given me. And I'm really touched that you have all been part of my life. One way or another. Without you, I'm not who I am today. Thank you. Very very much. Thank you...

It's my birthday today. It's also the day Shakespeare passed away.

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Be thankful for what you have;
you'll end up having more.
If you concentrate on what you don't have,
you will never, ever have enough.