Whispering of Willows （38）

By Dr. Anna Zhao

(https://whisperingwillowclinic.com)

It's getting cold. When doing qigong on the balcony in the early morning, I almost have to wear my mittens and tuque.

This year slipped by in a blink of an eye, and soon it will be Christmas again.

Yes, our clinic will be open on Christmas day, as well as on New Year.

It’s not that we are crazy about making money and ignoring traditional festivals, it is because we worry that on such a special day, someone may need us. Even if we can help one person, it is worth it.

I still remember a Christmas Day a few years ago. It was during COVID time, when everyone was hiding at home; few pedestrians were on the street. Grocery shopping was considered dangerous, never mind going to a medical clinic.

On a Christmas Day, a stormy snowy day, who would even think of coming to see us?

But someone did, a senior from the Middle East who spoke very little English. I gave her a treatment for her rheumatic pain which was causing problems all over her body. When I was nearly done, I had no idea how she felt, only to watch her suddenly open a corner of her mask, showing me a beautiful smile, followed by a gentle tap with her bulging veined hand, as she put her mask back on again. Instantaneously tears came to my eyes. She was my only patient that day, but her smile made my day. Yes, it was completely worth opening the clinic just for her, on such a stormy freezing cold day.

We often tell patients it is unnecessary to give us any gifts – their improving health is the best gift. Every year the chocolates and gift cards that we receive we simply pass on to others. We are grateful, but see ourselves as already blessed by the Divine just by having the chance to treat those who need us. If we have the opportunity to do what we love, how can we expect further rewards?

For example, Professor T is himself a beautiful gift shared with us. (I have asked his permission to write a few words about him in my Whispering of Willows). His humor, compassion, and wisdom often make us smile and always touch our hearts.

He is a brilliant learned man from the former Soviet Union. Although almost 80 years old, he still has a childlike face and glistening eyes. His voice is a little hoarse. He said once when he was talking with someone on the phone, the person mentioned: "You certainly have a peculiar voice."

He laughed and replied: "Wait until you see my face."

The first time he came to see us, I asked what I could help him with; he giggled, "A brain transplant is I need. Do you perform such a surgery here?"

When I inserted a needle into his forehead, he said seriously, "My Lord! Be careful, it is empty there, the needle may pierce through from one end to the other!"

Every time he comes, there is a riot in the clinic. Dr. Wang is normally reticent, but whenever this man is around, he shows his true colors; the two of them laughing and singing aloud, making a racket. Sometimes they sing "Katyusha", or "The Hawthorn Tree", or " Evenings in Moscow's Suburbs "…. Their laughter brings our clinic to a boil. Working with another patient at the same time as Professor T is with Dr. Wang, I worry my patient might be disturbed by their fun, so I often close my treatment room tightly. However, once a patient even asked me to open the door saying curiously: "Their laughter is so infectious, I wonder whom is Dr. Wang treating right now?”

Immediately the old man chortled his reply: "Undoubtedly he is treating an alien!"

Dr. Wang's deep tissue massage sometimes can be painful as if he is torturing his client, resulting in some patients joking: "Ok, Ok, Dr. Wang, what secret do you wish to know? I confess! I confess!"

But the professor chuckled: "Okay, okay, I behave! I behave!"

He and Dr. Wang joke that they were old Bolsheviks. When the two are saying goodbye, they both stand at attention and salute each other. The serious and humorous scene is really hilarious.

Meanwhile, it is this man who printed out posters with his own computer, trying to promote our clinic. He posted one in the gym he frequents and got a lecture from the gym staff, who made him peel it off; it was he who hurriedly went to his optometrist announcing to her that he had discovered a clinic able to treat eye diseases; it was he who copied our business cards and sent them to all of his friends; it was also he who took the initiative to write us a beautiful google review…

He did all this without even telling us what he did.  When we finally found out about it and thanked him, he just shrugged: "This is what I love to do; I want people to know so they can share my good fortune having run into such a special clinic in Vancouver."

For us, it is really so fortunate to have the opportunity to treat such people, for they are not only our patients, they are also our teachers.

Two days ago, after finishing my treatment for an Indigenous senior, she did not say much but clasped her hands in front of her chest. As she was leaving, at the door, she turned around and clasped her hands again, making our eyes moist.

Yesterday, a little girl hopped in, handing us two muffins, looking up at us with her smiling little face and said, "My dad and I just baked them. Eat, they are still hot!”

Today a medical doctor came from afar to see us. When we met, he said: "I have helped heal thousands of people in my life, but this is the first time I am asking for help. I chose you because of the special energy in you and in your clinic…”

When he left, he paid us American dollars (the first time someone paid us U.S. dollars!). When we were about to give him his change, he simply said, "Just consider it a donation to your clinic."

Such small surprises and episodes leave us feeling that a year of hard work was absolutely worth it. What other gifts could we expect?

And sometime we ought to give ourselves a gift.

An overworked mother always on the go taking care of her husband and two children, while also working full-time, said she wanted to get herself a gift this year and asked me if I had any suggestions.

I replied without thinking: “Give yourself thirty minutes of solitude every day; that is the best gift you can give to yourself.”

Without solitude, how can one find balance in life and within oneself?

Solitude is the best rest.

Solitude is the reservoir of energy.

Solitude is your inner bank.

After all, what better gifts than these are there?