A Good Reason To Live

A Good Reason To Live

By Paul McCann

Bruce lost his sight after returning from war . His life changed so much when blindness came .He missed the sight of pretty girls faces, he missed the beauty of flowers in bloom and all the colours of life that had disappeared . He couldn’t change what had happened and couldn’t forget the day his wife left him .She was his first love and turned her back on him when he needed her most  

Everyday trouble seems to find him , in  a place where he tried to light candles in his mind by praying for a miracle , to bright the light back into his life again .

He walked in blind faith learning to trust his footsteps along the street .

It was so dark some days , his eyes could no longer see but his best friend Kizza his  guide dog never left his side and he learnt to trust her . She would bring him home and guide him to the places where he had to go . Kizza was smart and Bruce knew he wasn’t going to be left stranded on some dead-end street somewhere .

Now and then, there were outings with the blind society when a bus would collect all those in the group . Then off they would go together with their guide dogs driving down the freeway where they couldn’t see the traffic in the bust lanes and they had no idea of how busy the streets where . Most of them just sat there and listened to audio books  or music on the radio .

Bruce had this photo album in his mind that he often would turn the pages over . Some of the photos were of happier times and he treasured those still , the memories of his wife always left him feeling sad but he never give up thinking that maybe love would find him again and restore the feelings he once had .

Bruce loved going places and joined some other groups .

He met a friendly group of people in his local church and sometimes there would be a bus trip somewhere .  He was told about a trip to Lourdes in France and a few of the people mentioned to him that there had been some miracles that had happened there in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes. When Bruce heard that he was excited and encouraged to go there and ask for his sight to be returned .

He paid the amount for the trip and was given a carer to assist him on the journey . The paperwork to bring Kizza was a little tricky so the only other option was to have a person to accompany him so the blind society organized a nurse called Lara .Bruce was happy with that and could tell she was very caring in the way she spoke and assisted him . Sometimes all blind people have to go by is that sense of touch from another person and immediately they know if they are trustworthy and kind .

On the day they were leaving Lara arrived and packed his suitcase and made breakfast .             When they were ready to go , Lara assisted Bruce into her car and they made their way to the church to get the bus that would bring the group to the international airport for their flight to France .

They church group all boarded the aeroplane for the flight and when they had taken off Bruce asked Lara ‘

“Lara is it morning or night , I never know as they say it’s dark at night but it’s always dark to me , see my vison is not what it used to be and these bad eyes of mine  cannot see “

Lara had a laugh and was getting to like how Bruce often made funny comments

Bruce was always friendly and funny with people . He learnt to laugh at life and make jokes about being blind.

“Trust me Bruce it’s morning and the sun is shining “

Blinded in a blur, Bruce started blinking and squinting and nervously winking at her and smiling as if he didn't care and said  .

“See me I'm not like everybody else and what I see I keep to myself “

“I won’t ask you any questions about what you see but have you got many friends

you can visit ?”

Lara asked and Bruce replied

“I used to have a few friends but I found sometimes when  I would go and knock on the door or call them on the phone , there was nobody home or no one answered . I lost count of how many times ; I used to walk away into the darkness until I saw the light and never bothered to call them or visit them anymore . “

‘So how did you manage before you had Kizza “

She asked and Bruce said ,

“Well, I use to bump into lots of people I didn’t know everywhere I were I went “

They both had a good laugh .

“Are you looking forward to going to Paris Bruce? “

She asked and he answered

 “ I have to laugh sometimes about that Lara ,. The first part of this trip called the sight-seeing tour . Can you just Imagine that’s a miracle in itself ?

They had another good laugh .

After the plane landed and the church group went through customs , The were taken to a hotel and stayed there for three days before Taking the train to Tarbes Ossun Lourdes Airport . The church group all made their way to the sanctuary where a few nuns took Bruce to the bathing pools .

As soon as Bruch was placed in the water, he screamed out a loud cry . He tried to tell people that it felt as if there had been an explosion inside him . After that his sight was restored . Everyone around began screaming out

“It’s a miracle , it’s a miracle “

People gathered around as Bruce told all of them how wonderful it was to see their faces and a lady walked over to him and smiled .

He was the only person who saw that lady and suddenly she was gone .

Bruce could see again and everyone in the church group were ecstatic . Another lady approached Bruce and introduced herself .

“Hello Bruce, I’m Lara “

Bruce stood there stunned by her beauty , he looked at Lara who was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life . In that instant Bruce had found a good reason to live . It was love at first sight with Lara .

Reports of the miracle were recorded by the officials at Lourdes and they told him they would be contacting him in the future about the ongoing investigations the church would be making on the miraculous return of his sight .

After 50 years the investigation was still going on . Lara and Bruce were married and had three beautiful children and lived happily together ,

The End