The first was from my December Ensign issue. It arrived in the mail today, and I let out a little yippee because I love those Christmas stories the December issue is always chock full of. It wasn't a Christmas story, however, that grabbed me. Instead, this article - "Dad's Lesson in Love" by Marcia L. Akes - about the long-suffering love of a husband (her father-in-law) for his ill wife absolutely touched me. Inspirational is probably an over-used adjective, but for me, the story of his dedication was just that. (He learned to sew so that he could help reduce the pain she suffered when being dressed, for example.) This (love) story made me want to step up the level of charity present in all my relationships.
The second tear-jerker was this arts profile from the nytimes.com. The headline - "Learning His Body, Learning To Dance" - caught my eye. I read the first two paragraphs and was hooked (course it doesn't take much with me ...): "Gregg Mozgala, a 31-year-old actor with cerebral palsy, had 12 years of physical therapy while he was growing up. But in the last eight months, a determined choreographer with an unconventional résumé has done what all those therapists could not: She has dramatically changed the way Mr. Mozgala walks. In the process, she has changed his view of himself and of his possibilities."
Photographs by Andrea Mohin/The New York Times
The choreographer Tamar Rogoff doing “body work” with Gregg Mozgala, who has cerebral palsy and for whom she has created a dance piece.
Photographs by Andrea Mohin/The New York Times
Gregg Mozgala rehearsing with Emily Pope-Blackman. She said it had been a slow process to find out how much force they could place on his body.
3 comments:
I literally just finished telling Cori that I cried when I read "Dad's Lesson in Love" in the Ensign today. Twinners. It was such a touching story!
And the one about the eleven eggs in the Friend! It was written just for me!
Great NYT article. I've never thought of dance therapy for CP, but it certainly makes sense. The effect on his posture is nothing short of a miracle.
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