“what is because
what ever there was”
by Peter Graf
Today when I was working on the gardens in front of the house I saw Paul, the person from the home for visually impaired persons nearby. I had met him in one of my walks in Doyne park about a month or so ago and as we had walked together he had told me a lot about his life. As today, once Paul starts talking he can go on and on about many subjects, mostly memories of his past life.
Today I tried to listen carefully how he moves from subject to subject. I discover he uses a phrase like “and then there is” to bridge the gap between talking about his mother to growing up on a farm. I think that in his mind all the various subjects are connected and this phrase is a way of connecting them for me.
Many persons I have met with a brain illness, including my own son, have this uncanny ability to connect a variety of events and subjects together. They really see and feel the connection although many of us ‘near normal’ persons do not see the connection. In fact I have observed that persons who think of themselves as very normal fight off making connections between persons and events.
I understand that in very primitive times persons that could connect many things were considered extraordinary and privileged persons and not ‘crazy’. They were gifted with the ability to see how all things are interconnected. Individualism and categorization seem to be the flavor of the day. Perhaps losing one’s eyesight helps persons, like Paul today, to see the connection of all things in their life.
Paul used the phrase “and then there is” probably more for my sake. To him everything seems connected. Paul is blessed.
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