Deere John
Meet John who re-discovers his vitality not in a pill or chemo "cocktail", but in a picture of farm machinery.

It has been said that "a picture paints a thousand words". We didn't realize until meeting John that a picture could also paint a lifetime. Eleanor and I had already hung 80 brand new pictures on this day's run. We were exhilarated yet weary by the time we reached our final room. There were only four remaining plaquemounts from which to choose. The room was a quad. Most of the patients were unavailable. But one man seemed eager for our attention. The rasps from his tracheotomy were unpleasant at best. We tried to use sign language as John could only speak through his eyes – eyes gently removed from this place of horror.

John Deere (Image by Brown Trout Calendars)

His weathered complexion led us to believe he had led a rugged existence; perhaps a farmer. We chose to hang a poster of two shining John Deere tractors poised for action on the rich Alberta earth.

John leaped to an upright position. He began gesturing wildly, pointing first to the picture then to himself over and over again as if to say, "That John Deere is me!". Frustrated that we could not understand, he then reached for a pad of paper and began writing. Tediously drawing each character of the words – eyes suddenly filled with life – his story unfolded. This wasn't just any tractor. It was the exact tractor he had driven, a role now assumed by his son.

We stayed for some time as he reconnected with urgent joy to his life beyond the hospital walls. Today John discovered his vitality not in a pill or chemo "cocktail", but in another reality. He drew comfort from a picture and the memories now returned to his calloused hands.