In junior high, I was on a gymnastics team. We were the New Jersey Junior Olympic state champions. That’s not relevant to the Hand, but it’s a moment of glory I treasure.
I placed 5th in vault and 6th in floor exercise. After my floor ex routine, my mom harshly critiqued my failure to smile. It was the only time she came to one of my meets.
What matters, relative to the Hand, is one boy on our team. He was famous because he was the first person in New Jersey to do a double back summy. This was in the olden days of two-inch thick mats on top of a basketball court, not the special spring floors they have now.
This boy was missing most of the fourth finger on his left hand, from about where a ring would rest onward. I was impressed with his skill, but more fascinated by this finger that was mostly missing. I wondered:
How did that finger get chopped off when his father was chopping wood? It seems the pinky or thumb would be more accessible.
When he gets married, where will he wear his wedding ring?
Was he as glad as I was that the missing digit was his ring finger, not his thumb?
Back to the Hand…
We are agreed that of our five digits, the thumb matters most, yes?
This is why the thumb gets labeled with the area of life that allows all others: Be Well.
There’s more to say about this Be Well thumb, more detail. But I’m going to leave it until next week because my current condition proves the point. I’ve been sick with a hefty chest cold for almost three weeks. I’m feeling much better than I was, but I’m tired, so stopping here.
Chewing the Cud of Good
Thankful for my immune system. And a friend who recommended an incentive spirometer.
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