moving from room to room
playing math games at
math night. my third-grader
looks for friends, always
seeking people first.
we make our way from
dice games to cards, to the
new-fangled electronic game
room, C1. there, he pokes
around in a desultory way
at various screens. finally
a friend arrives, and they jet off
to find a different room, me
and the boy's father trailing,
little smiles, knowing. our boys
are similarly flighty. it's tiring
to follow them as they change
their minds, try new things.
finally, it's time to wrap up
the evening, head to the cookie line.
over cookies, I find out
another of the mothers there
had brain surgery five years ago.
when she woke up, her right side
was paralyzed. they told her
it was as if she'd had a stroke,
that she had five months
to learn to write, walk, use her arm
all over again. if she didn't get back
full function in five months, she'd be stuck.
she laughs, says her optimism
amazed the surgeons, the staff.
"I said, wow, physical therapy, that's
great - I've always wanted to learn how
to dance." which she did.
she seems utterly healthy, her
operation a distant memory.
nothing like a little perspective
to remind me that not everything
fits into a neat calculus. there
are elements of life that are
irreducible. may we all be
prime numbers, all of us.
