Pain unites across every category of difference, including age. We have teenagers to eighty-somethings there. Pain doesn’t discriminate; everyone is truly equal. Pain reminds us of our frailties, and that everyone will suffer them if they grow old enough. We have such interesting conversations, nearly all about the different places that hurt.
There is no room for disliking someone. We have a common enemy, though the pain manifests differently. One of the most asked questions is, “What body part are you here for?” I have the distinction of having two different parts worked on this time around: neck and lower back.
We talk about surgeries and recovery times, but we also talk about sports, funny family stories, children, and grandchildren. We discuss so many issues that we could probably form a trivia team and win a few rounds at the local bar.
We do not talk about religion or politics. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independent. Pain doesn’t care if you are Catholic, Protestant, Atheist, Buddhist, or anything in between. But the last thing we need is to start fights and give us more weeks in physical therapy.
I am grateful for the physical therapists and their assistants, who have what I call “magic hands.” They work miracles. I watch people come on the first day, nearly unable to move. We cheer when they graduate to a walker, then to a cane, and are overjoyed when they can walk out on their own strength.
It is a place where people are just people, each needing to escape the pain that steals parts of their lives. We don’t have the time, need, or strength to hate or discriminate. We’re all in the same boat! It is a lesson I wish we could learn as a nation!
The Fandango One Word Challenge prompt is Trivia. The Daily Spur Word of the Day is Lesson.
Help from Heaven 
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