Tag Archives: life’s detour

The Bumpity-Bump-Bump Adventure

Yesterday Jerry and I decided to go on an adventure. Getting stuck in traffic was not part of our plan. Yet, there we were. Riding in our Buick along I-10 at the speed of one-inch per hour. Our tires bumpity-bump-bumped in a slow crawl, then came to a full stop, then back to bumpity-bump-bump.

“What’s going on?” Jerry wondered. “It can’t be construction. Look at the machines. No one in them.”

Bulldozers and Genie Lifts sat idle on the side of the freeway. Our life had evolved into an endless stop and go cycle: Go-Brake-Stop-Go-Brake-Stop. read more

Riding Naked in an Ambulance

Things I planned for:

  1. Go to Oxaca, Mexico.
  2. Buy new luggage (preferably in deep burgundy).
  3. Plant a garden.

Things that happened that I didn’t plan for:

  • Lying on the cold tile bathroom floor for 3 hours, unable to move, enduring pain, waiting for Jerry to come home.
  • Riding naked in an ambulance and pleading for more pain medication. The kind face of an EMT hovered over me, saying as compassionately as he could, “I’ve given you all I can.” I did have a blanket covering me, but when you break your already fractured hip while getting out of the shower, clothes are not a priority.
  • Jerry saying to me in the hospital as I hollered in reaction to the shooting agonizing pain while being moved from the gurney to the hospital bed, “I wish I could take the pain for you. I’m sorry you have to go through this.”
  • Nurses calling to me from a long dark tunnel. I opened my eyes and a young nurse with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, shot a giddy smile with her face two inches from mine. She said,  “Everything went well. The surgery is over.” I recall asking in a fogged haze, “It’s over?” She replied with eyes glinting I’m-so-happy-for-you, “Yes, it over.” I wondered, when did it begin?
  • 15 days in the hospital and rehab after undergoing surgery for a full hip replacement.
  • Learning to walk again with a walker. Being excited over taking my first steps without it. “Yay, you’re walking!” Jerry said.
  • Feeling helpless, but very grateful for Jerry who has been, and is, the most wonderful caregiver.
  • read more