Two Men With A View,

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   A Story...........

         Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same
         hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in
         his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain
         the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to
         the room's only window.

        The other man had to spend all his time flat
        on his back. The men talked for hours on end.
       They spoke of their wives and families, their
        homes, their jobs, their involvement in the
        military service, where they had been on
        vacation. And every afternoon when the man in
        the bed by the window could sit up, he would
        pass the time by describing to his roommate
        all the things he could see outside the window.

        The man in the other bed began to live for
       those one-hour periods where his world would be
       broadened and enlivened by all the activity and
       color of the world outside. The window overlooked
       a park with a lovely lake.  Ducks and swans played
       on the water while children sailed their model
       boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst
       flowers of every color of the rainbow.  Grand old
       trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of
       the city skyline could be seen in the distance.
 
       As the man by the window described all this in
       exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the
       room would close his eyes and imagine the
      picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by
      the window described a parade passing by. Although
      the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see
      it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window
      portrayed it with descriptive words.

      Then unexpectedly, a sinister thought entered
      his mind. Why should the other man alone experience
      all the pleasures of seeing everything while he
      himself never got to see anything? It didn't seem
      fair.

      At first thought the man felt ashamed. But as the
      days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his
      envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him
      our. He began to brood and he found himself unable
      to sleep. He should be by that window - that thought,
      and only that thought now controlled his life.
      Late one night as he lay staring at the ceiling,
      the man by the window began to cough. He was
      choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man
      watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling
      man by the window groped for the button to call
      for help. Listening from across the room he never
      moved, never pushed his own button which would
      have brought the nurse running in. In less than
      five minutes the coughing and choking stopped,
      along with that the sound of breathing. Now there
      was only silence-deathly silence.
 
      The following morning the day nurse arrived to
      bring water for their baths. When she found the
      lifeless body of the man by the window, she was
      saddened and called the hospital attendants to
      take it away. As soon as it seemed appropriate,
      the other man asked if he could be moved next
      to the window. The nurse was happy to make the
      switch, and after making sure he was comfortable,
      she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped
      himself up on one elbow to take his first look at
      the world outside.  Finally, he would have the joy
      of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly
      turn to look out the window beside the bed.
      It faced a blank wall.

     The man asked the nurse what could have compelled
     his deceased roommate who had described such
     wonderful things outside this window.  The nurse
     responded that the man was blind and could not even
     see the wall.  She said, "Perhaps he just wanted
     to encourage you."
 
     Epilogue. . . .
 
     You can interpret the story in any way
     you like. But one moral stands out: There
     is tremendous happiness in making others happy,
     despite our own situations. Shared grief is
     half the sorrow, but happiness when shared,
     is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just
     count all of the things you have that
     money can't buy.
 
    "Today is the greatest gift you can have, that's why its called the
     present."
 
    "Fame is a vapor, popularity is an accident, and riches take wings.  There
is
     only one thing that endures,
      and that is character  "