pa bliye Ayiti.

When I was 15 yrs. old I had a friend who was in a serious motor cycle accident. His back was broken with 3 crushed vertebrae and he was paralyzed from the chest down. The news of the accident spread through the high school like a wild fire. Suddenly everyone was his friend and were horrified at what had happened to him. I also was very moved by his plight. That January afternoon I walked from school to the local hospital to find out how he was. So many teens had gathered there. I sat with two of his brothers for a time and left not being able to see him that day. For days the buzz continued and each day I walked to the hospital.Things soon changed. In that first week and maybe into the second week there were so many visitors that sometimes I could not get in to see him. The days past and the visitors dwindled. Each school day for the next five months I went to visit my friend. I wanted to see him because he was my friend and I wanted to go see him because it seemed that so many had forgotten him. I got to be there the day that he first moved his big toe.Then he moved his foot.I got to be there the day he sat up.When he stood up. I got to share in the hope of his recovery. I got to see some of his first steps.It was a long road from that tragic day in Jan. until the day of victory when he walked out of the hospital in June. Even then he walked with a walker and there was another year until he was truly recovered. I got to share so much with my friend. He invited me to go on a motorcycle ride with him. That was Sept of 1972. We married in Jan. of 74.
We have been married for 36 years.
Haiti had a tragic day in Jan. So many rushed around her filled with shock, compassion, support. They were suddenly her friend. But as the days and now weeks have past people have returned to their own lives for the most part. Headlines have faded and many have lost the passion that they first felt in the days following the earth quake. Haiti needs friends who will be committed for the long haul. Friends who will realize that she is going to be suffering for a long time and she needs their love, support and encouragement for a long time. She needs people who will enter into a relationship with her and be there to see the progress she makes and rejoice with her. She needs people to see her wiggle her toe, move her foot, sit up, stand up, walk and finally run. She needs commitment. She needs to be remembered. pa bliye Ayiti. (Don't forget Haiti.)