Play with My Feet

     Kevin used to regularly say (or ask): "play with my feet!" Which meant to pick up and handle his feet and pretend he was walking or dancing or running; playing with Kevin's feet usually required a creative or imaginative story to go along with the movement of his feet. 

     Often, on the bus ride home, Kevin would ask to have his shoes taken off (so he would have better feeling and fun while I played imaginatively with his feet) ... pretending to run bases or jump over tall buildings--there really were no limits to where Kevin's immovable body would go.

     Kevin was constantly asking for playful and meaningful engagement, where his immobile body would magically come to life.

Demons Dismissed

 Demons arrive to distract and remind us of the brevity of life--of pain, suffering, hell on earth. 

We understand that life is terminal, suffering a portion of the mystery.

While we are fatigued or struggling with maintaining peace and order, demons often arrive to flaunt their presence, bringing brothers (shadow and darkness) ... but we are not impressed or swallowed by fear.

For a lifetime we have lived with the weight and darkness of loss and separation--demons hovering in the vicinity, laughing and jeering. They are cowards hiding from the light. Demons are not welcome here; they attempt to bury us in chaos and darkness but are quickly dispelled by the light of joy and laughter filling the room.

Demons dismissed.

--Allen Lujan

Just Like Kevin

     Kevin and his mother, Susan, were getting ready to leave our house after having dinner with us. It had been a fun and enjoyable evening. My 3 year old daughter--Marina--wanted me to pick her up and hold her as we watched Kevin being loaded into his van. As we were saying our good-byes, and Susan was making sure Kevin was secure in the front of the van, Marina whispered in my ear: “Daddy, when I grow up, I want to be just like Kevin.”

Marina truly admired and looked up to Kevin. She also knew his true state of being--happy. And that is all she saw. She no longer saw the deformed, misshapen and immobile Kevin. All she saw was a happy boy. Later, Marina would request a wheelchair for her birthday.