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アメリカのセントルイスの知人から、第九の紹介に対する返事が来ておりました。少し長くなりますが、掲載させて下さい。後半に出てくる Elijah というのは彼の息子さんで地区の弁論大会で優勝するほど、聡明な方なのですが、脊椎 (背骨) に障害があり、歩くことができない方です。もしも日本語訳をご希望の方がおられましたら、御連絡下さい。日本語訳を作成してお送りいたします。
Dear Dr. Nobuyoshi,
A blessing to hear from you.
The part of the Symphony that is called the "Ode to Joy" near the end is very popular here too. What a privilege to sing it there in that large auditorium.
Many years ago, I sang tenor in our church choir. Although, if I was to sing again, I'd likely sing bass. :)
The "Hallelujah Chorus" as part of Handel's Messiah was one of my favorites. Also, "Silent Night" and "Holy Night".
I thought of you today. In our news was a story of a young lady medical student that had a medical condition and during her hospital stay had a stroke in addition, leaving one arm partially unusable and some other conditions.
However, she is continuing her training and will be a doctor soon. She has to where a backpack to receive IV fluids as she works. But she said in the interview, "I just want to be able to help others and give them a better life".
She could have stopped but she didn't. I see you like that, a strong person that has had challenges but continues to use his God given talent to help others!
I'm so thankful that Jesus came to us. We can see in the symbol of the "cross", when seen shaped like the letter "t", that we have a vertical relationship with God and also a horizontal relationship with people. Meaning that both are important.
I will tell you a different story also from our lives... both happy and sad.
Elijah's muscles have still been getting tighter over time. This has caused his back to arch and his stomach to stick out. Also, the legs are stiff and walking is very difficult and is only really done in the house to the bathroom or to transfer from his wheelchair when we are out of the house. About 6 months ago, they inserted a tube into the spine about mid way up and put a pump in the fat just outside the stomach under the skin. This is to pump baclofen. Unfortunately, we are not seeing his muscles get looser, but still getting tighter. However, we are still at a low to mid range dosage, so we are hoping that higher dosages may provide some relief. I said that to explain that he is in a wheelchair more often.
Now to the story...
In America, we have the insurance programs that you pay into and then it pays the doctors, etc. Sometimes, they don't listen to the patient and we have a story about that.
All Elijah wanted was an electric wheelchair and we had been talking to the insurance company for 2-3 years trying to get something. They finally said they'd get him a manual wheelchair and maybe some day electric wheels could be added. They spent $4,000 on the wheelchair and because of the pain in Elijah's shoulders, he doesn't want to use it.
So, I went to the internet... and I found this. (Electric Wheelchair from China)
It has a joy stick so he can drive it with one hand, and it is light enough for us to lift into the car. He says "Now I can drive it and still hold a girls hand and walk with her"... He is 20 years old now :) LOL
The wheelchair was everything we needed and about $1,100 sent to my home.
So, it is sad in America that our insurance companies haven't figured out how to listen to the kids, but it's a happy story because Elijah is happy and much more confident to go to school and out to places.
May 2019 bring many blessings, |
