in the cuckoo's nest.

Portland Center Stage put on a production of Ken Kesey's chilling novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I remembered how life in the acute rehab center(where I worked to overcome paralysis) was like the nest. There were some stroke patients, gunshot victims, people who needed help to eat, and people who couldn't read. Like the Chief, and the sociopath McMurphy in Cuckoo's Nest, I wanted to get the hell out of there, and it felt, even looked a little like a prison.

I experienced the feeling of being in the nest yesterday while waiting to see my neurologist who prescribes my seizure medications. A patient was there who kept rocking back and forth and saying:

okay

okay

okay

okay

It made me sad and uncomfortable at the same time. My husband and I caught up with the patient in the elevator, where he randomly said "Hello" and "Goodbye".

Oh how I would love to fly the Cuckoo's nest, but I must belong here, because I'm here for life.