lights

So I was volunteering last Friday at a program for people recovering from MS/stroke. There was one station to work hand strength and one activity in it was to turn on one of those press-the-light-and-it-turns-on kind of lights. (You know, they're kind of dome-y and you press it again to turn them off.) The idea is that you practice putting pressure with your hand which may have become nonfunctional from the stroke. Most people do this by putting their stronger hand on top of the weaker one and pushing down on it.
So there was this one elderly lady who was usually quiet whenever I saw her. She was there practicing with the light a while and I was just monitoring. Next thing I know, the light is on. And she turns to the instructor with a huge grin and tears in her eyes. Apparently, she had been trying for weeks to turn on the light with just her one weak hand. To her, this proved that there was hope for her, that all her efforts were turning into visible improvement. She had to sit down and cry those tears of joy.
I was touched and couldn't help but smile about that the rest of the day. I was reminded of why I wanted to go into physiotherapy (or even just health in general). It's these little things that make my days feel bright :)