Reprinted from dailykos.com
by bkamr
Over the last few months, our son has been recovering from a severe concussion from a sports injury, and as a result, he's been restricted from doing just about anything. So, when the doctor gave him permission to resume some mild exercise (e.g. taking walks) our son was thrilled.
In fact, "thrilled" is much too mild a term. Ecstatic comes a bit closer to his emotions and mindset as he was putting on his shoes for his first walk, on his own, since the injury.
The complete rest order had been akin to being under house arrest with nothing to do in the house but sit or lie down quietly in a darkened room, with combined TV and screen time being restricted to 2 hours a day. Music could only be listened to at low volumes and even reading was off limits. We'd had to take him out of school, and he was being home tutored. When he was about to lose it, we'd take him out to restaurants, on off hours, to reduce sensory input. For a formally active and social 16 yo, the convalescent months had been an awful and lonely experience.
So, it's difficult to capture and convey how filled with joy he was as he pulled on his shoes for his first walk in the sunshine, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, on his own, in months. As he left the house with a big smile on his face, my eyes filled with grateful tears -- my boy was healing. He was going to be okay.