A Three Ring Circus

One day, I went to visit my quadriplegic brother about a year after his accident. I visited him often; but this day sticks out in my mind.  By now he was in the Rehabilitation Facility, where he would be for another two years. There was a lot more leniency at this place, and the patients could do much more than they could in a hospital.

I was heading to Phillip’s room and stopped before he could see me from the hallway.  I noticed that he had two other handicapped people in the room with him. I stood and observed in disbelief. This is what I witnessed:

One of the young men, about 24, a gorgeous lad, had no arms, the result of a fire I later discovered. His other guest was an older guy, about 28, who had no legs, half an arm and one full arm with two fingers.  He got around on a small plank with wheels under it, though he was incredibly agile. Their objective, between the three of them - was to light a cigarette.
I stood and watched these three severely handicapped men work for ten minutes. The armless chap held the cigarette in his mouth; Phillip held the lighter in his mouth, and the two fingered chap was trying to strike the lighter with one of his fingers.  It just was not going to happen, but it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. They were cracking up as well, which wasn’t helping their cause – so I finally entered the room to prevent a fire at the facility.  It was akin to catching three deer in the headlights.