The Power of Witness - September 2

Hello to each of you.

Good morning. We wish you well. We take in the healing you each have
offered us and send it back to in the many different forms that you
may need.

Mark is re-gaining some "fire in his belly" as we attempt to exorcise
the weakness and lethargy brought on by anesthesia, pain medication,
laying still for hours, conditioned air. He is moving a bit more,
laughing more, gaining ground, making plans....we may be discharged
(well, I guess Mark will be discharged, not me, though I DO know the
ropes here at MGH Plastics Unit very very well....) as soon as
Wednesday or Thursday! It is hard to imagine what lays beyond that
next bend in the river, but we are figuring it out. We think we are
going to stay with very generous friends in Cambridge because they
have a first floor that we can stay on whereas our apartment requires
two flights of stairs. Though Mark and I DO plan to embark on more
multi-pitch climbing down the road, those stairs are not going to be
possible for at least a couple weeks.

For those of you who were inspired by Mark's account of his rescue, I
want to share another account of those crucial eight hours. Blase
Reardon, a man who was climbing nearby and the first to reach Mark
when Jason, Mark's cousin, called out for help, wrote to us recently
to share his impressions of the resuce.

From a Narrative Therapy perspective, the power of witness is
essential. In some instances in Narrative, a circle of witnesses--in
addition to the therapist-- might actually be present as someone talks
through their story and then there is a wonderful process, elaborate
and simple at the same time, where witnesses reflect back to the
teller, layering the story, adding richness, adding detail, making
meaning. Another technique is to bring witnesses "into the room" by
asking the person, the "teller", to tell a piece of their story
through the voice of an important person in their life, or someone
central to an important event that the person might be re-telling. All
toward "meaning-making" and "preferred future" for the teller. It's
quite beautiful. Mark and I have shared a belief in the power of
witness. And for those of you who were at our wedding you might
remember that it was a significant piece of the ceremony--12 people
were our "witnesses" for various aspects of our relationship. We have
the flags that those 12 people made hanging above our bed. So, Blase
was a witness to Mark's composure duing the rescue and has taken the
time to share that with us. We are grateful for his words.....his
account helps Mark and I to make meaning out of this and to move
toward a preferred future.