A different kind of journey

Many of my blogs are about our travels.  I really like to write about the places we visit.

However, since December, I've been on  a different kind of journey - a spiritual and a physical one.

On December 23rd, I was doing an ordinary, daily task - feeding the horse. Because it was a bright moonlit night and I was feeling good, I walked up to the barn rather than driving up with the car (which I usually do because it gives me light to see what I'm doing.)  Gambler was acting a little edgy as I put the feed in his trough. And then . . . in a quick moment in time . . . he was in my space . . . I was falling . . . I was looking up at the roof of the barn, flat on my back.

When I fall, I tend to lay still for a few moments, to let unexpected pain sensations die down to a dull roar so I can access if I've just gotten the wind knocked out of me or if I am truly injured.  While I lay there making these accessments, I noticed that Gambler was over by the fence, nowhere near his trough and grain, head down.  I brought myself to a sitting position and Gambler immediately got on to what was most important in his mind . . . dinner!

I pushed myself up to a standing position and truly went OOOEEEYYY-OUWEEEYY all the way home.  My wrist hurt and my back muscles were most upset with me.  But I was happy to have gotten back to the house on my own steam.

A trip the next morning to minor emergency gave me a wrist brace for a hairline fracture and muscle relaxants for the back.  

Within a few days, the back pain had dulled and I thought I was well on the road to recovery.  With each passing day, movement was better, the wrist was doing well.  I was in good spirits.  And I started the year with ambitious plans of getting many things done both on a personal level and a professional level.

January 6th was a particularly productive day. I worked at my desk all day, happy with what I was getting done.  But at the end of the day, my back started speaking to me.  A visit to the hot tub didn't dull the increasing discomfort.  By the next morning, I knew another trip to the doctor was in order.

X-rays showed deterioration from L-1 down.  That didn't surprise me a lot because I had fractured L-1 when I turned 40. Falling through your ceiling from the attic to the ground floor is not a prudent thing to do.  Physical therapy was ordered and I went gladly and with optimism.

The first few weeks were painful.  I hobbled when I walked.  I kept up with much of my routine, but even short distances seemed excruciatingly long.  However, if I had responsibilities, I made sure I fulfilled them.  Other things had to be put on the back burner.  We bought a new heating pad and we already had a good ice pack.  I alternated heat and cold.  We used our inverter so that I could drive to and from my obligations with the heating pad.  Fortunately, most of my responsibilities could be done sitting which I could do with minimal discomfort.  I was doing well with therapy, but the one area that I couldn't make work was walking 15 minutes a day . . . Standing or walking even a short period of time left my body demanding that it was time for me to sit.

By the end of February, I was thinking longingly of the things I could do before the fall in December.  It seemed such a long time and far away.

Memorable People

My mother-in-law has been in a skilled care facility for about a month now. This is our second run up to the panhandle to visit and hopefully give moral support to the family here. We have begun to meet some of the people that are in her unit. Most are elderly.

There is one lady there who seems close to my age. I generally see her with her husband pushing her wheel chair around. What impresses me is her attitude. When we greet people, we usually say, "Hi! How are you today?" She always answers you with a big smile and says, "I'm wonderful!"

I don't know her story. I can tell her husband is very attentive (which also impresses me). I don't know if she is in rehab because of a car accident, an illness, a fall, or whether she is living there as a long term resident. But that bright smile, that friendly look in what don't seem to me to be the best of circumstances for someone my age, tells me she sees the world differently than I do sometimes. She seems to be very happy.

Phillippians 4 tells us to "Rejoice in the Lord always!"

From Habbakuk: 3:17-19
17Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.

This happy lady in the wheel chair is a blessing and an inspiration to me. I hope I can find that deep well of joy when it becomes my time to deal with physical problems.