The reason for Michael’s anger was understandable.For twenty-five years,he had lived his life at a medical center where his mother had placed him at age nine and visited him several times a week until she died.He was always a raspy sort of guy,who cussed out his nurses routinely,but at least he felt he had family at the hospital.The patients were his friends.There even had been a girl once who went about in a squeaky wheelchair who he was sure had eyed him.But she hadn’t stayed long at the center.And after spending more than half his life there,now Michael wasn’t going to get to stay either.The center was closing,and Michael was shipped to live at the rehabilitation hospital,far from his friends and worse,far from Betty.That’s when Michael turned into a recluse.He wouldn’t come out from his room.He left it dark.
His friends drove more than two hours to see him.But Michael’s spirits sagged so low,no one could reach him.And then,one day,he was lying in bed when he heard a familiar creaking sound coming down the hall.It sounded like that same,ancient,squeaking wheelchair that girl,Juana,had used at the center where he used to live.The squeaking stopped at his door,and Juana peered in and asked him to come outdoors with her.He was intrigued and from the moment he met Juana again,it was as though she breathed life back into him.He was staring at the clouds and blue skies again.He began to participate in the hospital’s recreation programs.He spent hours talking with Juana.His room was sunny and light.And then he asked Juana,who’d been living in a wheelchair since age twenty-four,if she would marry him.Juana had already had a tough life.She was pulled out of school before finishing the third grade,because she collapsed and fell a lot.Her mother,thinking she was lazy,slapped her around.She lived in terror that her mother wouldn’t want her anymore,so on the occasions when she was well enough,she cleaned house“like a little maid”.Before the age of twenty-four,like Michael,she had a tracheotomy just to breathe and that was when she was officially diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.By the time she was thirty,she had moved into a hospital with round-the-clock care.So when Michael asked her the big question,she didn’t think she could handle the pain if he was teasing.“He told me he loved me,and I was so scared.”
she said.“I thought he was playing a game with me.But he told me it was true.He told me he loved me.”On Valentine’s Day,Juana wore a wedding dress made of white satin,dotted with pearl beads and cut loose enough to drape around a wheelchair and a ventilator.Juana was rolled to the front of the room,assisted by Harry,who proudly gave the bride away.Her face streamed with tears.Michael wore a crisp white shirt,black Jacket and a bow tie that fit neatly over his tracheotomy.He beamed with pleasure.Nurses filled the doorways.
Patients filled the room.An overflow of hospital employees spilled into the halls.Sobs echoed in every corner of the room.In thehospital’s history,no two people—living their lives bound to wheelchairs—had ever married.Janet Yamaguchi,the hospital’s recreation leader,had planned everything.Employees had donated their own money to buy the red and white balloons,matching flowers,and an archway dotted with leaves.Janet had the hospital chef make a three-tiered,lemon-filled wedding cake.A marketing consultant hired a photographer.Janet negotiated with family members.It was one of the most trying and satisfying times of her life to watch the couple get married.She thought of everything.The final touch—the kiss—could not be completed.Janet used a white satin rope to tie the couple’s wheelchairs to symbolize the romantic moment.
After the ceremony,the minister slipped out trying to hold back her tears.“I’ve performed thousands of weddings,but this is the most wonderful one I’ve done so far.”the minister said.“These people have passed the barriers and showed pure love.”That evening,Michael and Juana rolled into their own room for the first time together.Michael and Juana knew they had moved many people with their love,and they had been given the greatest gift of all.They had the gift of love.And it’s never known where it will land.
