Kimberly Adams
Professor Sanger
English 1301
11 June 2008
Daniel, my son, has always been an ambitious boy. He is ten years old
with a vivid imagination. He is always on the move. He plays football,
basketball, and soccer with the high school kids on the street. He only ever
slows down to eat. All of that came to a sudden halt when he decided to jump off
the bed. Daniel landed on his right knee with a “pop”. That was the end of his
playing football, basketball, or soccer for the summer.
The following day Daniel was in a splint from his toes to mid thigh and
using crutches. As I watched him trying to do the simplest tasks, I realized what
a challenge it would be for him. His doctor’s appointment was his first. The walk
from the parking garage to the office my son was trying to keep up with me. I
was trying to stay in front of him to open the doors. The faster he went, the
clumsier he became. The uneven pavement was his demise. While trying to run
a race, his crutch slipped and down he went. Did Daniel give up? No way. I
helped him up and away he went again.
A simple task of getting a glass of water was now a major feat. Daniel is short
for his age, as most premature children are. He usually uses a chair to reach
the cups, but since he could not get up on the chair now, he had to ask me for
help. My sons’ independence was gone, or so I thought. He didn’t give up. He
found that he could use one crutch and the counter to lift himself up and sit on
the counter. This allowed him to reach the cups. Daniel will then proceed to
carry the cup in his mouth to the refrigerator. As long as he drank all the water in
his cup, he could carry it in his mouth back to the table.
The bathroom was the hardest to overcome. Daniel, being a young man,
could not have his mother in the bathroom during bath time was totally out of the
question. My son learned...