Two seriously ill patients shared the same hospital room.
One of the patients had the bed by the room’s only window and the other patient had his bed by the door.
The patient next to the window was allowed to sit up in his bed but the other patient spent most of time on his back because he was too weak. He could only really sit up for an hour a day but even so, he couldn’t see out of the window.
The two patients talked for hours together about their families, their jobs, their holidays and their interests.
The patient next to the window would pass the time by describing to his friend all the things he could see outside the window.
The window overlooked a park with a beautiful lake. Geese, ducks, herons and swans played on the water while children played ball games and flew kites on the grass. There were people jogging, cycling, walking, skateboarding and there was a yoga class on one of the grassed areas near the bandstand.
This was a majestic park full of life with magnificent trees, flower beds and a busy cafe and play area. The benches were always in use with people sat reading or local office workers eating their lunch.
As the man described his view from the window in glorious detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the delightful scene.
One balmy afternoon the patient by the window described a parade passing through the park. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see the parade in his mind’s eye, as the patient by the window painted a detailed picture with his eloquent words.
Sadly, one morning, a nurse found the patient by the window had passed away peacefully in his sleep. This was a shock to his friend although not unexpected as he knew his friend was very ill.
After a couple of days, the other patient asked the nurses if he could be moved next to the window which they were happy to do.
He was desperate to see out of the window and when he managed to prop himself up to take a look, he was amazed that the view wasn’t the park his friend had described – it was a brick wall!
The patient asked the nurse why his friend would have chosen to describe in detail a park that wasn’t actually there.
The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.
She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”
Here is another version of this story from YouTube:
This story reminds me of my own time in hospital.
I remember being in a room by myself that faced a brick wall. I was kept by myself because I had to be opposite the nurses work station and monitored regularly.
I was quite jealous of the other patients on the ward because their beds all had a real view of the outside world and could see for miles. All I had was a gap of about ten feet between me and the next building and my view was the most uninspiring ever.
At the time, I resented how this made me feel because it didn’t help me feel any better and made me realise the importance of having something to look at where I could see life. Perhaps I should have done more with my imagination but my adaptive coping wasn’t very good then.
How we see the world is everything.
You might pay more for a sea view in a hotel but in hospital, this isn’t an option, you have to create the view yourself.