The Healing Tree by Joe Tye.

The Healing Tree
A Mermaid, a Poet, and a Miracle

by Joe Tye

The greatest miracle of all is not something that happens to you, it’s something that happens within you; this is the story of one such miracle.

Maggie opened her eyes again, and there was still
a hint of the emerald fire in them. “Yes you can,” she whispered. In the years to come, I would hear the invisible whisper of those three words a million times – as they wheeled me out of my hospital cocoon to finally take me home; the day I drove my new car that was specially-equipped with paraplegic controls; as Amanda buckled me into the custom ski that reignited my passion for the sport Mark and I had loved so well; the day I wheeled myself into the hospital volunteer office and clipped on my new nametag: Carrie Anne Murphy – Poetry Therapist. But on this day, I was powerless to do the one thing I would have given anything to be able to do.
— From The Healing Tree