Hello everyone, I have been part of this community for a while now — navigating retinitis pigmentosa and building a life around it. This is something that happened last week that I have been thinking about since.
My mother had ligament surgery two weeks ago. She still can't walk properly. Yesterday, we took her out anyway. Every place she wanted to see, we went. Slowly. Patiently. No one checked the time. No one complained. The entire day, she kept apologising for needing help. "Careful." "Wait." "Hold my hand." "Slowly." Tiny sentences. The kind people say when they're afraid of becoming heavy in someone else's life. By the time we were driving back home, she went quiet. Then softly, almost looking out the window more than at us, she said — "I'm not going out again until I can walk on my own. You all are facing so much trouble because of me." And something inside me stopped for a second. Because I knew that sentence. Not from her. From me. I've said those words before. In different forms. To different people. Sorry for needing help. Sorry for taking time. Sorry for being difficult. Sorry for not being easy to carry. I looked at her and said — "Whenever you want to go somewhere, just tell me. I'm not facing any trouble. Honestly… not even a little." She turned toward me slowly. "Really?" "Really." And then she smiled. Not a big smile. Not dramatic. Just that small, relieved smile people have when they realise they are still safe to need someone. That smile stayed with me longer than the entire day. Because standing there, I realised something I wasn't expecting. I genuinely had not felt burdened once. Not while waiting. Not while walking slowly. Not while helping her stand. Not once. And the second realisation hit even harder. It felt good to be needed. Not important. Not praised. Needed. There's a strange warmth in being trusted with someone's weakness. A quiet kind of meaning. The kind you cannot demand from life. The kind that only appears when someone lets their guard down enough to lean on you. Maybe that's why love feels so heavy sometimes. Not because caring is difficult. But because people spend so much of their lives trying not to need anyone at all. Rishabh Gupta Raipur, Chhattisgarh -- Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessIndia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/CAOukPW-rR8YsZayh%3D18YdtTojqhZtmOSTZAYhhvB1521DMhBBw%40mail.gmail.com.
