Walking Miles Into Our Hearts and Living There Within Us Elita Sohmer Clayman

When Mom worked, she worked in an advertising firm. They would type envelopes and insert the ads for the customers. She did this around when I was about twelve in 1946.The soldiers had come back from World War Two and many had lost their limbs.  Their names must have been put on a list and the list given to the agency where she worked. They would receive small pamphlets from the agency and it had in the envelope an advertisement for purchasing artificial limbs. She brought one ad set home and I can see it as if it was yesterday. It showed the soldiers all the information on purchasing a leg, arm, or even hands. It was a sad set of weeks, when Mom and the other employees had to insert these ads into the envelopes they had typed. They could hardly dare to look at the inserts. It was so heartbreaking; words cannot describe the feeling of trying to entice injured soldiers to purchase artificial limbs through an ad.

I knew someone in high school who lost his leg at age eighteen months because he had dropped a ball in the street and ran after it and a car hit him. He did not let that change his life other than the discomfort of being without a leg. He was popular in school and was even president of his class. He accepted what had happened to him and went on with his life. Today, he is a doctor and getting ready to retire soon at age seventy-eight. He had a prosperous medical practice, married, and had kids and now grandkids.

He did what the old saying says “Put your future in good hands- your own.” Also “the journey of a thousand miles begins with only one step.” Even though he had only one leg, he was still able to make all the journeys he wanted, one leg or two; it did not stop him from succeeding and accomplishing so much along the way of life. Some people with legs, arms and hands cannot succeed even having everything they need. It is the personality of the individual that conquers adversity and the lack of personality that does not attain very much. His name is Miles and that is a fine name for a good person who finds it difficult to navigate miles to walk because of his infirmity. He does not let that deter him in anything he wants to do and has proved it over and over again in his lifetime. He sets a good example for others who suffer from this problem, whether accident related like the one with Miles or if lost in the cause of wartime. You could say that Miles does walk miles in his journey of life and he does so with one natural leg and one artificial one. He walks with dignity, happiness and success. The walking may take some extra time, but he does so in prime time. His time is original and delightful.

I know a little five year old darling girl who wears two Cochlear Ear Implants and now she is talking and hearing with great speed. She heard sounds for the first time in her young life when she was about three and half. The first sounds she heard amazed her and alarmed her too, not having heard from birth.

Now at five years old and having worn them for about eighteen months, you would think she is a natural hearing kid and not realize the difficulties she has gone through in her life of five years.

The soldiers coming back from World War Two and all the other wars since then are probably seeing the sale of limbs for them on the Internet and need not receive pamphlets in the mail like in my mom’s working days. The little deaf girl is the recipient of hearing from the Cochlear implants. I knew a young man whose name was Simon and he was born deaf and therefore could not speak until he was taken to a special doctor who gave him ordinary hearing aids and he was taught to read lips, but he still could not hear. His mom Anne had a dream, that one day Simon would walk into her bedroom in the early morning hours and say to her “Hi Mom, my name is Simon.” Her dream did not quite come true, he did learn to talk, but his voice had an odd tone to it because he could not hear. Though he could talk and make sounds, there was no Cochlear implant in those days of about 1949. If his Mom was living now, she would have known and realized her one and only dream that Simon could hear. He did learn to talk and say Hi Mom and that was better than nothing at all.

There is an expression of “come live in my heart and you need not pay any rent.”  Simon, the doctor Miles with the artificial leg, the little deaf girl, and the soldiers back from the wars all had to overcome adversities of the highest form. They all accomplished the most they could at the time of their losses. They should be honored for their fortitude, courage, endurance and faith that they could overcome and be successful. They are all living in lots of peoples ‘hearts and the only rent they pay is their love to their friends and families that had faith in their courage and how they triumphed over these hardships. They are all rent free, but filled with love in the home called our special hearts, where we house those who we adore, love and have joy from every day of our life. These people all walk many miles to their destination of peace, attainment and conquering their disabilities. They are not disabled; they are capable, skilled and talented. There is even a one legged ballroom dancer and you should see him perform in shows, it is so amazing. You do not know whether to cry first upon seeing him with his teacher or to applaud him for his tenacity or to shout, scream as if he is a movie star or to stand in awe for him.  He too is ‘walking for miles’ up and to a road to our heart and we feel blessed in knowing these very special people, who have come into our life and made us realize how fortunate we are to know them and to admire them.