Another Interesting Day

I had a very strange trip to the Dentist today. As I walked into the waiting room there was this person sitting in the corner doing needlepoint. I say 'person' as I had to look about 5 times before I could determine if he/she was really a he. Now, no offense to all the needle pointing men that are fans of my blog, but I just had a hard time figuring out if this person was a man, woman, or "other." So as I'm getting my teeth cleaned, the hygienist tells me the dentist will be running late as he's working on twin girls that are mentally challenged and their visits just take longer. She goes onto explain that they're not actually girls, they're the sweetest ladies but with mentalities of 7 year-olds. Then I kind of put two & two together and asked if the needle pointer was the father of the girls, and the answer was 'yes'.

For the remainder of my dentist visit I couldn't help but feel for the family: a gender unspecific needle pointing father, supporting twin adult mentally challenged daughters. What a challenge. What a life. As I was walking out of the office with my cane, the father glances at me and then turns to one of the girls and remarks "that poor girl," referring to me. I was blown away and thought about this the entire drive home. My first thought was "Wow, that really puts things into perspective." But what perspective was that? Each of us viewing the other's situation in context of the cards that have been dealt to us? Maybe it was just an eye-opener for me, hearing how someone views me as handicapped? Or maybe I'm not used to having someone take pity on me while I feel that my life is great and wouldn't trade it for the world? Honestly I can't articulate what it all means but I think it's profound. Another interesting day on this journey my hip is taking me through.