Rocket Man

A diagnosis of hemiplegia, stroke, or cerebral palsy brings lots of unknowns  (Aster has all three, as defined back here).  For the parents, one of the greatest is not knowing if your kid will be able to do X-- with X being walk, read, ride a bike, keep a job, play an instrument . . . you name it.

March 2016

Alamagordo, NM March 2016

Of course, worrying about any individual's future is futile (within the last two weeks, four friends in their 40s have learned that cancers in their bodies have returned or are worse than expected); we can't know anyone's fate.  But Aster, like other kids, takes it all in stride.

He announced recently.  "I can't be an astronaut because of my paralyzed right side.  So I'm going to build my own rocket to go to the moon."

I like his thinking.

Ironweed Vernonia baldwinii Summer 2016