She looked and I smiled ...

Seated in a wheelchair, dressed in pink and green, she was unable to move around.She could only watch the people around her, helping themselves to the buffet spread and chatting away.

She sat quietly, waiting for someone to feed her. She looked at me with curious eyes but her thoughts could be that of another world and not about me.

This girl I saw was seated with a family of six, which includes a very energetic grandmother who often helped the girl with her food. At such a young age, life depends on the wheel chair she sits on thus compromising mobility. She will not be able to experience life like any other child playing in the gardens of laughter nor will she be able to even do the simplest things like feeding herself.

I would assume that she's only ten years of age and suffering from a motor neuron disease or maybe some thing similar. Thinking how her life would be many years later brought tears to my eyes, its painful thinking how her parents' would have felt after learning from the doctor that she will not have the slightest chance of walking again.

Like many stories, a girl like her would always dream of being able to dance and walk normally. Just the mere thought of being able to put on and use a pair of ballet shoes would bring a smile to her face, something so simple yet it is going to be an almost impossible challenge for her to perform a simple dance.

We often take mobility for granted, complaining on how far the bus stop is and how hot it is to walk under the sun. We have been given healthy limbs to perform daily tasks but how often do we disregard the fact that these limbs are indeed important and that we should be thankful for being healthy and mobile. Seated from her wheel chair, she envies our mobility - a simple thing that our Maker gave us that was not given to her. Therefore, whenever I need to walk that extra distance, I would think of this girl and be satisfied that I was given the ability to at least walk that extra mile required and not grumble about the chore of walking.