Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the duid from his lungs His bed was next to the room’s only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked about their wives, families and their jobs. And every afternoon when the man by the window could sit up. he would pass the time by describing to his room- mate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods when his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activities and colors of the world outside. Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. The other man was moved next to the window. Slowly and painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. He slowly turned to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what had made his deceased room-mate describe such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."