Today I stood balanced on one leg for the first time...I was the last in the class to do this.

And I had a memory. Many years ago I had a girl in my grade eleven class whose brother had had an operation for a brain tumour in the summer. He was in grade seven and brilliant and a diver. He came back to school very damaged. The class decided to go bowling one day and we brought Charles with us. The students were really good with Charles but there was one moment where they were all paying attention to each other. I looked down the lanes and there was Charles by himself with a bowling ball. He had been figuring out what it was all about. He threw the ball and made a strike and understood that he had made a strike even though he could not articulate it. In his movement I saw the former athlete. I was the only witness and I smiled and he smiled and we laughed. I told the others but by that time, Charles had no idea what he had done.

    Today when I balanced on one foot, I understood his sense of accomplishment.