My last post dealt with winter surprises, and there have been some delightful ones. An eagle. A great horned owl. I experienced a less delightful one last Thursday, when I was out with the dog and miles from home. It was a pretty day, sidewalks were clear, and Rascal and I weren’t yet at our halfway point, when I slipped on black ice and fell, breaking my pelvis.
I got back to my feet on my own, but found I couldn’t walk. A passing motorist, Tina, and her dad, Robert, helped me down the curb and, with the dog, into her car. They took me home, my husband took me to the ER, and the hospital kept me for a night. Thank goodness for strangers and my husband and caregivers.
It is so nice to be home. A week after the accident, I can go up and down stairs, using the bannister and a cane. Except for stairs, I get around with a walker. I’ve even been outside. My friend Sue took me out to run some errands. And now my sister Carol is visiting, and yesterday we all went out to dinner. It snowed last night and today, though, so we’re staying in. Baby steps and all.
Tomorrow evening, the neighbor friends with whom we gather regularly are bringing the party to our house. Thanks to Carol’s ministrations, the house is now in good enough shape to receive them. Thank goodness for family. Thank goodness for friends. Thank goodness for neighbors.
Our neighbor Tanya showed up here yesterday and said she could take Rascal for his long morning walk. In fact, she said, she could take him for his morning walk every day except today. And Carol walked him today. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, God.
Thank you to the ER nurse named Karen. She was unfailingly kind. She kept us up to date on what was happening. She chatted with us as she worked. She always closed the door of our little ER room, and she always did so quietly. Everything she did seemed intentional. She used to work with animals, and after that with children. She must have been remarkable with them all. She even rounded me up a sandwich, the only food I had that whole long day.
Thank you to the tech Doreen who helped me do all I could. She anticipated both needs and wishes and did so unobtrusively. She was compassion walking. Thank you to the nurse, not assigned to me, who tracked down a book for me to read after I’d finished the Terry Pratchett with which I’d arrived hours before. “I’m a reader, too,” she said, “so I understand.” Thank you to the occupational therapist, whose name escapes me. She was professional, of course, and she was also fun.
Thank you to all the people who have prayed. My eyes prick with tears when I think of what you’ve done to sustain me.
Also, thank goodness for our nut of a dog. He treats the walker as a no-go zone and zooms around it rather than through it. For a while, he treated me as a no-go zone, too, settling near me without seeking attention. When I first called him over, he looked surprised. Delighted, but surprised. He’s back to his attention-seeking normal now, although he shows up in unaccustomed places to avoid the walker. Sometimes, like now, for instance, he looks up at me through the glass dining table, waiting for me to notice him and give him the ear ruffling and other petting he regards as his due.
Best of all, today he rejoiced. He loves when I mess him about. Spinning him around on the bed. Flattening his ears down over his eyes and shifting him back and forth fast, fast, fast. Rubbing his tummy and stretching him long. Generally getting him wound up, ready to go leaping into space, then flying down the stairs.
Today I woke from a nap to speak with a friend on the phone. When I’d finished the call, the dog started writhing next to me. And moaning. He long ago figured out that if he moans when having his ears rubbed, the attention tends to last longer. So he writhed and moaned, priming the pump so I’d mess him about. Which I did. I spun him and petted him and twirled him and made much of him, only from sitting down instead of standing up. And his little life started to return to normal, which helps us on our way to normal. So thanks, too, from the dog and for the dog. Amen, amen, amen.
11 March 2022