The older I get the more I recognize the irony in life.
Life is like an Easter basket; the kind you dreamed of when you were a child...vibrant and exciting to behold...wrapped in exquisite pastels of cellophane, a layers-deep-bounty of delicious surprise.
There is beauty everywhere and it is only our preoccupation and anxiousness with racing to the finish that keeps life's secret. There is beauty everywhere just waiting for you to peek, and when you do, when you really see it, it can take your breath away.
As a life-tourist, I can recommend travel destinations to you that will deliver the richest experience for your life-journey's scrapbook; the hot-spots of life's unadulterated, abject beauty. No doubt the top location will surprise you, as it has never ceased to do me, for at the top of my destination bucket list for you is the hospital. No, you did not read it wrong...the hospital.
By it's very reputation as a place for the sick to come to live or come to die, one might never think to look there, but that is why it's reward is all the more cup-filling. Untie the satiny ribbon, peel back the luminous cellophane, and allow yourself to be barraged by the unspoiled beauty that resides there. You will find it in the form of selfless, compassionate, dedicated people.
Allow me to introduce you to a rare gem of a man, my "Guide" (and yours), Jason Rohan. Jason always introduces himself with a couple-minutes-long diatribe of humor so surprising (in this place) that it makes you believe you must be dreaming.
"My name is Jason Rohan, but you can call me "the Guide". Like all the green garbed Earthlings at this hospital, I am here to wheel, shpeel, and pamper you during your brief and ridiculously expensive stay. This military issued burlap sheet I am draping over your lap as we commute to your pre-arranged sunless destination is all that stands between you and public humiliation. Do not remove it. Please keep your hands and body parts in the vehicle at all times because there are no "take-backs". This regularly scheduled "transport" is a "non-stop", so please do not ask to go to the gift shop, cafeteria, ATM, or bus station. You will not like where you end up. If you have any constructive suggestions, witty comments, or complaints, please keep them to yourself, bearing in mind the tired adage, "Never bite the Guide that wheels you!"
How can one not laugh? Whether tired, in pain, miserably sick and/or incapacitated, Jason's witty banter is a breath of fresh air that brings a smile to your soul. Treasure it, for it has come at a great cost from a selfless individual who does this to "give back". "For what," you might ask? For God's gift of life. You see Jason is not just a gifted comedian, he is a blessed humanitarian made so by life's school of hard knocks.
When Jason was 21 he was in a serious automobile accident. He was in a coma for months due to a traumatic brain injury from which he should not have recovered. But he did.
It is only after you know Jason's story that you become acutely aware of the depth of the physical damage to his face, which was quickly and un-ceremoniously pieced back together without attention to scarring or beauty because Jason was not expected to survive. But he did.
Jason awoke to a world completely different from the one he left. He had to relearn everything; talking, walking, processing, functioning. The gifts he had before the accident were not the ones he emerged with after. Jason had to relearn being Jason. But he did.
The only thing Jason could not do, was to erase the effects of the accident on his brain, emerging forever damaged by a simple twist of fate. He suffers from a serious seizure disorder that undoubtedly would have beaten most others into surrender. But not Jason. Medications have been ineffective against it, but Jason has not. He uses relaxation and a keen sense of his own body's signals to control the disorder, such that he can work a full-time job at the hospital doing what he does best, shining his light into other's existence, and never missing a beat.
This is my second encounter with Jason in less than a year and I know what that means. When your travel path crosses with anybody more than once, take notice, for it is no accident. There are no "coincidences". The universe is trying to tell you something that it can only communicate through this unique, individual gift of an encounter. LISTEN! LOOK! SEE! FEEL! ALLOW IT TO AFFECT YOU. You will be made the better for it.
Again, I told Jason that he was "missing his calling". Did I learn nothing from my last encounter? You see more than one major comedy club owner in Atlanta has been wheeled and shpeeled by him here in the hospital, and they too, were awed by him. He's been invited over and over again to "Open Mic" nights and "Talent Contests" at two of the major clubs in Atlanta, but he has not "bit". I encouraged him to gather his courage and "take his shot", only to realize what a ridiculous piece of advice that was. It has nothing to do with courage. Jason's courage is unrivaled by anybody I have ever met.
Jason knows what his body can and cannot do. He does not think of this as his "limits". Like him, his body is his "Guide". He chooses to live "off" of medications and to control his disorder by caring for himself conscientiously. Only by doing so (off of psychotropic meds) is he allowed to hold a position of patient responsibility in the hospital or anywhere in the public sector. THAT is what Jason was born to do. His incredible sense of humor and impeccable "shpeel" delivery is not his "light" it is his "gift". His light would shine if he were unable to wheel, shpeel, or pamper anyone again.
Jason told me that he spent many, many years after his accident in rehab facilities, laboratories, and in physical therapy, trying to regain some semblance of life. He met extraordinary people in the hospital while he did, nurses, therapists, technicians, doctor's, and patients. He sat in the chair that needed to be "wheeled". He traveled the cold, dark, lonely hallways from one lab and procedural room to the next with the anxious anticipation of a scared patient. He experienced people whose level of dedication to his recovery he credits with where he is today. Jason has lived it. And when he knew that he could recover enough to work again, he dedicated his life to "giving back" to the world that helped him in whatever way he could. THIS is Jason's way and he is very happy and completely fulfilled doing it. I for one, am so blessed to have "discovered" him and I have grown under his light.
Thank you, dear Guide! Your are a lamp unto my path and a light unto my soul. Never change a single thing about yourself! You are God's flawless masterpiece~
