The Freedom of the Stairs

What is the use of climbing Mt. Everest? - "... if you cannot understand that there is something in man which responds to the challenge of this mountain and goes out to meet it, that the struggle is the struggle of life itself upward and forever upward, then you will never understand why we go."

Why do you want to climb Mt. Everest? - "Because it's there."

How will you get to the top? - "We will stomp to the top with the wind in our teeth."

- George Leigh Mallory (Responding to questions of his expedition on the first ascent on Mt. Everest)

Anyone who has ever been on a mountain knows both the anguish of the climb and the euphoria of the summit. I have never been on a mountain where I didn't want to quit - and I have quit, on occasion - too exhausted, too sick and too physically and psychologically depleted to complete the ascent. Nausea, malaise and weakness are common with altitude, and when that sickness sets in, the simple, rote task of putting one foot in front of the other becomes a menancing grind.

Having experienced that to some degree, I could not have been prouder of Keith than when Darc showed me this video - his conquering spirit on full display. It may seem a small task, climbing the stairs, but for him, it is anything but. Keith has limited mobility in his feet and legs right now, especially given the cumbersome casts that wrap his feet and extend up to his knee. Given how frail he is, the casts account for about 25% of his body weight. Aside from mobility constraints, he recently had another round of chemo, which means he's nauseous, weak, sleep deprived and generally just feels "yucky."

Sitting at the bottom of the stairs, already sapped from the poison in his system, he had every legitimate excuse to wait for Darcee to carry him up. Once he started up, tired and in pain, with Darcee right behind him, he had every opportunity to quit and nobody would have faulted him for it. Instead, he pressed on, "teeth into the wind" one conquering step at a time.

His expression at the top of the stairs says it all.

Every parent revels in seeing their children accomplish hard things, but it's especially rewarding when the child initiates the challenge on their own and perseveres to overcome it. Despite the challenges of this disease and its treatment, Darc and I feel so blessed to be inspired by Keith every single day. Every day he faces some new challenge, usually in tasks that are simply routine for most kids. But, despite his physical limitations and legitimate reasons to quit, he always endures and finds a way to prevail.