It's been a rough year. I've been undergoing spinal injections to remedy pinched nerves and collapsed discs (see the red, non-smiley face) to determine if/when/which/where to approach with a surgical intervention. This was complicated by a bad fall & a wrist sprain that keeps giving me grief. (I had 3 separate people tell me, "You should have broken it, it would heal faster.") Roll that all up into a ball and nest it with feuding PMS & menopause and you have some idea of why my romantic 23rd wedding anniversary dinner left me a little weepy. As we drove home we talked about all the people who filled our house the night before the wedding and how many of them were now missing, waiting for us on the "other side." As we pulled in to the driveway and got out of the car, I felt that familiar catch of pain in my lower back. Joe immediately caught my arm and walked me up the front steps. When we got inside I burst into tears and said, "I feel like I'm aging before my own eyes!" to which Joe replied, "Yeah, with a bullet!" Thankfully, it broke the tension and I had a good, long laugh. No one can call it like Joe - he's the "glass half full" anchor in my life.So the treatments continue and we've made progress to the point where I can actually sit comfortably. I am ready to get back to my sewing soon, even if it's just hand sewing and making hexagons. I always feel better when I'm at the Bernina, or cutting up new fabric, or whipping a binding on to a quilt. It feeds my soul, I like the creative process, and it makes me feel like I have accomplished something wonderful. Best of all - I get to make another baby quilt! My wonderful niece and god-daughter, Katie, is due in the spring. I like sewing for a new little life. It puts the whole aging thing into perspective and motivates me to push through the bumps and dips because the view from the heights is all that much better. Maybe that is the secret to growing old gracefully - as hard as it is to keep patching up the old body, it's worth it a thousand times over when you experience the world with so much wisdom and experience - and love - in your lenses.
I pray that you heal quickly and get back to your second love, your Bernina. With Joe being first, of course. Aging? There's nothing we can do about it but march forward and embrace all that is good.
ReplyDeleteI would not be young again for anything!~The older I get, the more I know and then I want to know less. I wonder sometimes if it's better to be cab driver happy, or aristotle unhappy. Oh well... I DO hope you feel better soon. Pain makes me GRUMPY!~I don't even know I"m in pain a lot, my husband says, you need to take an aleeve... So, then I know I've been grumpy.
ReplyDeleteI was there Jo, I rode the bus with my grandma to Omaha, where I got to go to the hospital and be with you while you recuperated. You had to lie straight, and not move. But we still giggled and talked about the future, as far as a 16 year old could imagine. You called my Aunt Nola, mom Debban, that was a giggle. Hauled you around in the cadilac when you came home, had a hell of a time reaching the gas peddle, you couldn't bend, so had to have the seat back sooooo far. Sorry to hear you are having troubles with that, 9 ,months in a body cast, boy did you STINK! Get better soon. - Rob in
ReplyDeleteWOW, you remember a LOT! I remember the morphine, and the struggle of just getting in and out of cars. That caddy had a big bench seat, I remember (now) you having to scoot up to the edge so your feet could reach the gas pedal! Wow, seems a lifetime ago. Mom always said growing old isn't for sissies - she was right!
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