Aids

I will never forget the terrified look on the young lady’s face in Kolkata, India. She was gathering soiled laundry and had slipped into the room where I was sleeping. I suddenly realized someone was in the room and didn’t know where I was or the time of day. (I was still adapting to the nine and a half hour time difference.) I am much bigger than most Indians and I sleep with a masklike device connected to a machine to assist my breathing. Although I’ve never looked in the mirror while wearing the mask, I am sure I must have looked like an alien to her as she fled the room with an absolutely horrified look.
My grandson thinks the device is neat and is enraptured with Grandpa’s machine and “mask.” I myself don’t care how it looks; I am just grateful to have it. You see I had two accidents within months of getting it, both my fault, due to lack of sleep. Because of this device, my sleep apnea condition is under control and I can function normally. Over the years I have acquired many devices so I can function “normally.” I am assisted in my hearing, sight, and even have a device to assist in monitoring proper blood glucose levels. In addition, physicians have prescribed a litany of pharmaceuticals to help me function. Those devices and medications don’t even begin to compare to the folks who help me each day. That list would be huge. Let’s see: my wife and family, friends, associates, and a list like the proverbial “butcher, baker, candlestick maker.” Last, but certainly far from least, is the supernatural enabling and direction that I find so necessary for day to day life.
When I chose the title “Aids” I almost changed it because in our current societal condition most of us now associate the word differently than in the past. I have still not “shifted gears” and associate the word “Aids” with nurses, students, or things like that. (Slight variations in spelling have never bothered me!) My first thought is of a “helper” not the very real and debilitating medical condition that has seemingly hijacked the word in our minds. As I reflect, I realize that aid and assistance in general has been pushed to the background in our supposedly “self-sufficient” society. Our heroes are folks that are supposedly pillars and have “made it on their own.”
The school district that I attended (I wish I could say where I studied) was a wrestling powerhouse that generated multiple state champs; one of whom I knew well. I always felt like the sport of basketball was only for those folks who couldn’t master wrestling. For those of us who were tall but gangly, and somewhat uncoordinated, that even meant the bench and possibly playing a few closing minutes. I suspect some of us have never shifted gears from the stigmas and peer perceptions of our youth. No longer does status, sitting at the right lunch table, or having no noticeable zits establish our “value” (or lack of it).
We live in a society that is increasingly oriented to “perfect stand-alone super stars”. As a “people watcher,” I watch with amusement and then sadness as folks work their way up through the social networking in most group situations. Most seem to hopefully want to touch base with the “one-man dynamos” and “movers and shakers.” I have no problem with this. It’s just sad that all the others in the room lack value in these folk’s eyes.

I am increasingly aware of how significant my personal support system really is. I am amazed and almost embarrassed how “what I am” is not of my own doing. As I realize the contributions that others forces and folks play in what I am, it contributes to a significant shift in my thinking. I realize how honorable and noble it is to aid and enable others. Perhaps this “members of one body” stuff has merit because I can no longer “make it” without you, my family and friends (not that I ever could). A sincere “Thank you” for your aid to me.