From the beginning I knew this was going to be a hard unit to tackle. It was going to involve so much thinking and analyzing of other people but most importantly, myself. I'm going to make some important discoveries about myself and probably put my whole life into perspective.
For example, you know those everyday things we do that we take for granted, like eating, talking, smiling, yelling, frowning and anything involving our lower jaw? Imagine you couldn’t do any of that. Yeah, it’s pretty hard to imagine but that’s what Roger Ebert has to go through for the rest of his life. If you’re not familiar with him or his struggles, this article has everything about him. You may remember him as the famous movie critic but right now his life is completely different. Even after numerous surgeries and the eventual loss of his lower jaw along with his ability to eat, talk, and show any kind of emotion, he’s still doing what he does best: writing.
He's lost the muscles to frown, so it looks like he's always smiling.
After reading this article, I was left with a mess of emotions. In made me realize that we worry over petty things in life and this article put things into perspective. In short, it’s easy to say he’s an amazing man but he’s lost so many things we do easily. In his shoes I don’t know if I could continue living like he does. He lives through rudimentary sign language and his laptop, using it as his mouthpiece. His connection to the world is the Internet and he has to depend on other people for simple things. His wife helps him so much and the love they for each other is incredible.
In fact, the way he takes everything is stride makes me a little jealous. He has no choice but to smile each day and to accept his lifestyle. Of course he’s still living though the pain every day, but it seems like he’s come to a sort of peace with it and accepts it. I don’t know how to explain it but his will to survive is so strong and he’s happy with what he has. I admire him so much for that and the inspiration he brings to move forward through anything is phenomenal.
i am in total agreement with you anu. he really makes us seem like complainers or whiners who dont know how to appreciate and enjoy life, but at the same time he makes me realize that if he can go through this with a smile on his face, then i should be able to as well no matter what life throws at me....but of course one needs a very strong spirit. one also needs the support of another and his wife is doing a FANTABULOUS job, they both must really love each other, and this is what love should be like and where it matters the most.
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