WHAT
A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
A
sad birthday? Well, it’s sure a heck of
a lot different than my 90th.
Last
year I had considered a parachute jump.
However, I couldn’t convince my son that I would come down to the ground
in one piece. Fred made me an
offer. “You want to fly a Cub once more
so find one and I’ll pay for it.” I did
and he paid for a day that took me back seventy years. At the time I thought, “It can’t get any better
than this.” I hate to tell you that I
was right.
I
write this in physical pain – lots of it.
On July 3rd, Dr. Jackson sliced a four inch opening in my
back and performed: “Laminectomy with
facetectomy-lumbar spine surgery.” He
cut away ‘lamina’ (bony stuff) pressing against the nerves. Then he placed a four piece cage around the
area to stabilize the spine.
This
had been put off for quite a few months.
Other procedures – epidurals and acupuncture -- had been tried and
didn’t work. Opiates are a dirty word
nowadays so we won’t talk about any trials there. When the hurt reached the point that walking
became agony, a more drastic action had to be taken.
Dr.
Jackson told me that this is one of the worst surgeries for having pain
afterwards. But I didn’t listen. I told him, “Quit talking about my age. A month after surgery I’m going to be out
walking five miles a day.” He said, “You
won’t be out of the house by then.” Well
. . . the month has come and gone with practice walks up and down the
hall. And today – finally – I opened the
front door and made a fifteen minute walker-push around the block.
So,
it’s going to take a little time to conquer a hole in my back. Wait and see – by the 92nd
birthday, I’ll be back to five miles.
If
only it were as easy to put a cage around a hole in the heart. I try to stabilize the hurt that lives there with
actions that remember Fred. When the fall
session of Glendale College opens, there will be two scholarships awarded to students
Fred would have been teaching. His
biography, up to the time of his diving accident, still needs editing and
finishing the cover.
My goal:
“Worries Won’t Happen – Fred’s Story” will be available
on Amazon and Kindle before September 22
nd, a year from the date
Fred left us.
The second book, “There’s Nothing I Can’t do,”
begins with the day Fred took a dive into a pool and came out to a new life as
a quadriplegic.
Will
this book be finished by my 92nd birthday? Sure – like my kid said – I can do anything. I am looking forward to talking to many of
you for help about this part of his life.
The publication on August 11th, 2019 will be my birthday
present to me.
The holes in my back and the
holes in my heart remain a part of my life.
As do the speckles of sunshine that have given help throughout the last
year. Magaly is my special “Summer Star”
as well as all the other months of the year.
When needed – even when I didn’t realize the need – brightness with
names like Nancy and Alice appeared to get me over the rough spots. Willing names like Dorothy and Ursula and Amanda came through the
door to provide constant encouragement. Stand-by names like Chris and Sybil were only a whisper
away. And names that meant back-up and
support could fill up a page.
From Fred - Happy 91st
Birthday, madre
Here’s the link to my 90th
birthday -
Posts
For
students at Glendale Community College
