康复医院里的婚礼Where Love Lands（1/2）

伊丽莎白·库伯-罗斯/Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

No one knows where love’s gs will nd.At tis, it turns upthe ost unual spots.There was nothg ore surprisg tha desded upon a rehabilitation hospitala Los Angeles suburb—a hospital where ost of the patients o longer ove of their own aord.

Wheaff heard the news, so of the nurses began to cry.The adistrator wasshock, but fro then on, Harry Maaraa would bless it as one of the greatest dayshis entire life.

Now the trouble was, how were they gog to ake the weddg dress? He knew his staff would fd a way, and when one of his nurses vonteered, Harry was relieved.He wahis to be the fest daythe lives of o of his patients—Juana and Michael.

Michael strappedhis wheelchair and breathg through his ventitor, appeared at Harry’s office door one .

“Harry, I want to get arried,”Michael announced.

“Married?”Harry’s outh dropped open.How serio was this?“To who?”Harry asked.

“To Juana,”Michael said.“We’relove.”

Love.Love had found its way through the hospital doors, over o bodies that refed to work for their owners aed their hearts—despite the fact that the o patients were uo feed or cloth theselves, required ventitors jt to breath and uld never walk aga.Michael had spal cur atrophy; Juana had ultiple sclerosis.

Jt how serio this arriage idea was, beca quite apparent when Michael pulled out the e rg and bead as he hadn’t doneyears.In fact, the staff had never seen a kder, sweeter Michael, who had been one of the a n Harry’s eployees had ever worked with.

The reason for Michael’s anger was uandable.For enty-five years, he had lived his life at a dical ter where his other had pced hi at age ne and visited hi several tis a week until she died.He was always a raspy sort of guy, who csed out his nurses routely, but at least he felt he had faily at the hospital.The patients were his friends.

There even had been a girl once who went abouta squeaky wheelchair who he was sure had eyed hi.But she hadn’t stayed long at the ter.And after spendg ore than half his life there, now Michael wasn’t gog to get to stay either.

The ter was closg, and Michael was shipped to live at the rehabilitation hospital, far fro his friends and worse, far fro Betty.

That’s when Michael turo a recse.He would fro his roo.He left it dark.His friends drove ore than o hours to see hi.But Michael’s spirits sagged so low, no one uld reach hi.

And then, one day, he was lygbed when he heard a failiar creakg sound g down the hall.It sounded like that sa, a, squeakg wheelchair that girl, Juana, had ed at the ter where he ed to live.

The squeakg sped at his door, and Juana peeredand asked hi to e outdoors with her.He was trigued and fro the o Juana aga, it was as though she breathed life back to hi.

He was starg at the clouds and be skies aga.He began to participatethe hospital’s recreatiras.He spent hours talkg with Juana.His roo was sunny and light.And then he asked Juana, who’d been livga wheelchair sce age enty-four, if she would arry hi.

Juana had already had a tough life.She ulled out of school before fishg the third grade, becae she lpsed and fell a lot.Her other, thkg she was zy, spped her around.She livedterror that her other wouldn’t want her anyore, so on the oasions when she was well enough, she ed hoe“like a little aid.”

Before the age of enty-four, like Michael, she had a tracheotoy jt to breathe and that was when she was officially diagnosed with ultiple sclerosis.By the ti she was thirty, she had oved to a hospital with round-the-clock care.

So when Michael asked her the big question, she didn’t thk she uld hahe pa if he was teasg.

“He toldhe loved , and I was so scared,”she said.“I thought he yg a ga with .But he toldit was true.He toldhe loved .”

On Valente’s Day, Juana wore a weddg dress ade of white sat, dotted with pearl beads and cut loose enough to drape around a wheelchair and a ventitor.Juana was rolled to the front of the roo, assisted by Harry, who proudly gave the bride away.Her face stread with tears.

Michael wore a crisp white shirt, bck Jacket and a bow tie that fit ly over his tracheotoy.He bead with pleasure.

Nurses filled the dooratients filled the roo.An overflow of hospital eployees spilled to the halls.Sobs echoedevery rner of the roo.In the hospital’s history, no o people—livg their lives bound to wheelchairs—had ever arried.

Ja Yaaguchi, the hospital’s recreation leader, had pnned everythg.Eployees had doheir owo buy the red and white balloons, atchg flowers, and an archway dotted with leaves.Ja had the hospital chef ake a three-tiered,leon-filledweddgcake.Aarketgnsultanthireda photographer.

Ja iated with faily bers.It was one of the ost tryg and satisfyg tis of her life to watch the uple get arried.

She thought of everythg.

The fal touch—the kiss—uld not be pleted.Ja ed a white sat rope to tie the uple’s wheelchairs to sybolize the roantit.

After the cereony, the ister slipped out tryg to hold back her tears.“I’ve perford thoands of weddgs, but this is the ost wonderful one I’ve done so far,”the ister said.“These people have passed the barriers and showed pure love.”

That eveng, Michael and Juana rolled to their own roo for the first ti together.Michael and Juana khey had oved any people with their love, and they had been given the greatest gift of all.They had the gift of love.And it’s never known where it will nd.

爱的羽翼会在何处驻足，无人知晓。偶尔，她可能会出现在最不寻常的地方。令人难以置信的是，有一天，她突然降临在洛杉矶郊区的一家康复医院里，这里的大多数病人都丧失了最基本的身体机能。

医院的工作人员听到这个消息时，一些护士哭了，院长哈利震惊了。但从那时起，哈利把它当作一生中最伟大的日子，为它祈祷。

现在的问题是，怎么给他们缝制结婚礼服呢？虽然有些麻烦，但哈利知道职员们会找到解决的办法。一个护士自告奋勇地揽下了难题，他放心了，希望这会是两位病人——朱安娜和迈克一生中最美好的时光。

一天早晨，迈克出现在哈利的办公室门口，他的身体用带子缚在轮椅上，借助呼吸器呼吸。

“哈利，我想结婚。”迈克说道。

“结婚？”哈利张大了嘴巴，“这可是件大事，和谁呢？”哈利问。

“朱安娜，”迈克说，“我们相爱了。”

爱情，爱情穿越了医院的大门，降临在两个完全瘫痪的人身上，并进驻了他们的心灵——尽管两位病人衣食不能自理，需要呼吸器才能呼吸，而且永远不能行走。迈克得了脊髓肌肉萎缩症，朱安娜身患多发性硬化病。

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