Overjoyed Curtis

 Last week when I showed up for my physical therapy session, Curtis, who is an aid there, escorted me to a therapy room where heat is applied to my joints in preparation to see the physical therapist. Only a curtain separates the patient from the exercise area.  As he was applying heat to my left hip and right knee, he blurted out that he had been to the temple for the very first time the night before and that it was AMAZING! I asked him which temple he went to and he told me it was the Jordan River Temple. He went there to do baptisms with a group of friends who had all taken family names to do the ordinance work for. I don't know his age, but I would guess that he's around 22 years old. Nice, friendly young man.

I was kind of surprised that he shared that information with me. After all, did he know I was LDS too? Maybe he suspected it. I don't know, but I was pleased to hear his report. To hear a young man so excited to go to the temple to do baptisms was such a joy for me. It seemed that he wanted to shout it from the rooftops.

Later, as I was riding the recumbent bicycle which is close to the therapy rooms, I heard him share the same joy of going to the temple with another patient. His excitement hadn't waned a bit. I wonder how many individuals he shared his experience with that day.

If only everyone had such excitement for going to the temple. That would be amazing! With that type of excitement out there, its possible that those who have never been before would want to go to see what all the excitement is about. I don't think I've ever voiced my excitement for going to the temple with anyone I barely knew, but that didn't stop Curtis. 

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Speaking of physical therapy, I have been going twice a week since January 8th because of bursitis in my left hip and pain & stiffness in my right knee, which hadn't healed completely since my knee replacement surgery in Oct. 2023. Well, I got good news today. I had improved enough to graduate today. I believe this is about the 5th time I have graduated from physical therapy. Each time you graduate, they give you a parting gift. I didn't accept a gift the last two times I graduated because I already had the items they were giving away. This time they had a new T-shirt so I accepted it. It is much better looking than the shirt I got the first time I graduated. It's just a T-shirt, but I like the new one.

[The first shirt I got]

[The new shirt I got]

I'm just thrilled to be done with physical therapy. It was beneficial so I will continue to do the exercises because I don't want my problems to return. Hopefully, by continuing the exercises I can get stronger and healthier.