I decided I wanted to do a post comparing the lives of my two sons, Colin (59) and Sean (61). Because both of them are now focused on their bodies, in an extreme way. At opposite extremes, in fact.
Colin Cudmore
Colin didn’t want a photo of him, but if you’ve been following my near-daily posts on caring bridge you will already realize that Colin’s body is paralyzed from the waist down, with severe nerve pain which does seem to be gradually, over time, reducing somewhat. It’s been nearly two years since the aortic dissection that should have, but did not, kill him. His early determination to not only remain alive and appreciative, but to recognize the nature of his now dramatically altered life purpose, inspires all who come in contact with him.
Some astrology is warranted here:
Colin’s catastrophe highlighted his natal 22°+ Neptune in Scorpio, with transit Uranus opposing it and transit Sun, Moon, and Lilith squaring it, exactly, from Leo. Plus, natal Mars in Virgo, exactly sextile Neptune.
Inventor Colin — see Garden Tower Project — and for those who know astrology, see this segment of his natal chart —
— assumes at this point that his altered purpose in life is to invent a new wheelchair that will work for any disabled person, plus other devices the disabled can utilize, for example, a new kind of “slider” that would make it easier for paralyzed people to slide into chair from bed and back again.
He’s working on these inventions mentally, and hopes to be able to sit up long enough soon to actually draw the designs on a computer using CAD (a program which he will have to learn).
But beyond that, here’s what the sabian symbol for 23° Scorpio (always use next whole degree) shows:
Colin’s subtle potency is so evident at this point that he’s celebrated not only by friends and family, but by those who work at Majestic Care, the local nursing home where he resides until transitioning to his own apartment on August 7.
Sean Cudmore
Sean has also been focused extremely on the body, in an entirely different manner with completely different conditions.
For many years he’s been focused on getting and keeping his body in prime shape, moving to Boulder Colorado so that he could enjoy bike riding even more than in Massachusetts. Besides, his daughter, my granddaughter, Kiera, lives there, and on May 30, she roped him into riding 200 miles with her on gravel roads.
What?!?
Here they are, about one minute after finishing, at around 11 pm. The ride started at 6:30 AM.
Both, to me anyway, look utterly transfigured.
This ride, which they did with hundreds of others, took place in Kansas:
Excerpts from Sean’s write-up on Strava of their Kansas “Unbound 200” adventure:
I’m so glad my daughter roped me into doing this ride with her! We had a great time experiencing this event with hundreds of other gravel riders. As first timers to riding such a long distance we were treating this as a fun event to do together rather than as a race.
What I found to be a lot different than Boulder was all the gentile hills and all the beautiful green scenery. Lots of crop lands and cattle grazing lands and prairie lands. I must admit that due to where I normally ride I was frequently cresting hills half-expecting to be surprised with a beautiful mountain summit view on the other side. 😉 Instead I’d normally be surprised with yet another gorgeous vista of lush green lands with lots of hilly terrain.
I felt good the whole ride but with two notable exceptions; my hands and my feet. With so many miles of constant vibrations the palms of my hands became a bit sensitive due to moving the skin back and forth so frequently. As for my feet, I suspect I might have a little too much play in the front area of my shoes for such a long ride as the bottom area of my feet just above the pedals would intermittently become overly sensitive (not too bad, though, just slightly annoying).
After Kiera and I crossed the finish line we limped over to a bench and spent a while there to give our bodies a chance to rest. I proceeded to consume my one ride sponsored beer and then also Kiera’s as she decided she didn’t want hers (I must admit I wasn’t at all disappointed when she informed me of this fact).
While sitting on that bench and discussing the ride we both agreed that 200 miles is as far as we ever want to ride. We both have NO aspirations of riding any longer distance than that … The fact that we both agreed that we needed to walk our bikes, rather than ride them, four blocks back to Kiera’s van should tell you all you need to know. 😉
BTW: now nearing 25, granddaughter Kiera lives a most unusual life. She tricked out a van, and parks in various large lots each night with two girl friends, who also tricked out their own vans.
Sean and Kiera traveled to Kansas in her van.
By day, Kiera works full time at the U of Colorado, assisting students in industrial design courses. Utterly creative by nature, and now, we discover, the older she gets, a totally free spirit.
Kiera is living the life I would have like to have lived at her age. Instead, I was raising Sean, and Colin, chained to motherhood. But what pride and joy that motherhood yielded, now two generations along.
So yes, both Sean and Colin are, at this point in their long lives, utterly focused on their bodies.
For entirely different reasons!
And equally impressive.
