Subway kindness

To the kind man who saw my knee brace and gave up his seat to me on a crowded NYC morning subway,

 Thank you.
Usually I wish I could keep my illness invisible when I am out and about, but there are moments like these when I’m grateful for the outward sign that I needed help. A year ago I may have turned down the seat. But not today.
You saw that my knee was in a brace, and that was enough for you to jump out of your seat and offer it to me.
You didn’t see that I hadn't planned to stay in NY overnight, and as a result didn’t have my 4 morning medicines to take with my breakfast, and would be late on the next 4 lunchtime medicines too by the time I got home.
You didn’t see that holding my heavy bag with my hypermobile scoliosis and lax joints was on the verge of subluxing my ribs.
You didn’t see that standing still on a hot subway car would cause blood pooling in my legs and a spike in my heart rate that would take me at least all day to recover from.
You didn’t see that in addition to the pain in my braced knee, I was also experiencing pain my my hips, back, shins, ankles, wrists, shoulders, neck, and head.
You didn’t see the effort it was taking to keep my tired body upright.
You just saw a person who may have needed a break, and you offered that relief. You gave me a much-needed chance to rest, and the opportunity for me to practice accepting assistance.
And for all of that, I thank you.

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