Later that same day: shut up, whiny woman! First, I just heard from a very dear friend who was waiting to hear about a biopsy – no cancer. NO CANCER. Could any two words be dearer?
And then I turned on TVO to find a show I thought was on, which wasn’t, but was intrigued by what was there. I’d missed the beginning, but it was obviously an Australian documentary about a young woman severely handicapped with cerebral palsy, being beautifully treated by a sheep farmer; I thought she was his daughter.
As this extraordinary story unfolded, I learned that she was his wife, that she’d had a terrible stroke while pregnant with their first child that had left her quadriplegic and unable to speak, able to communicate only with her eyes. And yet they still made a rich family life, with the child she was carrying and another baby they had later. She was teased and loved, carried to and fro to be included in every family event and every decision, including one made by her husband to try to supplement the farm income by opening a legal brothel.
The doc is called “A Good Man” and this man certainly is. A beautiful, extremely moving film.
High on life in twenty eleven.
