~about TVs, Let's Make a Deal, and life~

Long before the days of a bazillion cable TV channels and the latest in "flat screen" technology, families just like the one I grew up in made "do"  pretty dang well with only 3 channels to watch.   If you grew up in south central Kansas as I did, those channels were 3, 12 and 10.  Most folks I knew had only one TV, black and white of course, and the remote we had available to us  was...well, it WAS that you just got up off of your lazy behind and turned the little dial on the side of the screen. And if I had a dollar for every time I heard my folks yell, "Kids quit spinning that dial so fast.  You're gonna break it off!" then I would have a lot of dollars.  They were right, we did and it became the first time I ever was introduced to the use of pointy nose pliers as a substitute channel dial handle.  Add a little leftover tin foil (they call it aluminum foil these days) to your antenna and with any luck and all your fingers/ and or / toes crossed, you might accidentally get somewhat decent reception if the moon and the stars were just right.  But we made it and no one died because of the lack of technology.

We watched shows that were decent and certainly ones that MOST times you wouldn't be embarrassed to watch as a family.  Comedies like Petticoat Junction, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Green Acres; variety shows like The Ed Sullivan Show and The Smother's Brothers; and dramas like The Fugitive and The Waltons entertained families in weekly 30-minute time slots.  

One of our favourite shows to watch as a family actually was a game show, a popular one on channel 3 out of Wichita,  Let's Make a Deal.   From 1963-1976, the show's host, Monty Hall, made deals with people for some of the craziest things.  Sometimes he'd be looking for a woman who might be carrying a tube of toothpaste, a paper clip, a $5 bill or a kitchen utensil in her purse in order to make a deal with them.  He'd offer them a "crisp, new $100 bill" for it and then the deal making would begin.  They might keep their newly acquired "fortune" or trade it for what was behind those infamous "Doors 1, 2, or 3".  It was always a little disheartening to see someone who had worked their way up to a brand new 5-piece living room set, foolishly trade it off for what ever was behind door #3~only to learn that their ultimate gift was going to be EVERYTHING you  would need to get started on your brand new farm!  Picture in mind a milk cow, old mule and a hen setting on a nest of eggs.  I guess it's what made the show but I still can hear us all yelling at the TV screen (like THAT was gonna help) "CHOOSE DOOR #1!"  And when the show was over and the TV shut off for the night, you'd find yourself thinking, "Why didn't they keep what they had?"

I guess those folks had to rely on their gut instincts as they made decisions during that very short period of time.  I've had to do the same in the past few days in regards to the condition of "old lefty".  Nearly two weeks ago now, I returned to the "land of miracles" to visit Dr. Chan and have him evaluate a problem that has developed since my last surgery in December of 2011.  I would have a difficult time explaining in the best of medical terms what is needed.  But in "layman's" terms, a bone spur grew back in a place where it should not have.  Sooner or later it has to be excised but there is no guarantee that it will make anything better.  Dr. Chan, being the extremely fine surgeon that he is reminded me that day two weeks back that my wrist will never be normal again....no matter how much surgery happens.  I admire and respect him so much and I will never forget what he did for me to even get me a wrist that wouldn't be normal again.  I can remember when the original cast came off the first time and I looked down at an arm that appeared to have been run over by a truck or something.  With tears running down my face, I asked one of the nurses "Where is my wrist?" because honestly I didn't even recognize "old lefty" as an arm any more.  

This past weekend, for some reason, I began to think about whether or not I should have the surgery after all.  It weighed on my mind pretty heavy.  Do you know the feeling?   By the time I awoke on Monday morning of this week, something inside of me was saying "don't do it" and when I couldn't dismiss that feeling, then I knew what I needed to do.  For now, I have cancelled surgery for next week and will just continue on as I have since this all happened, now well over 15 months ago.

 I've decided to be grateful for what I have thus restored in "old lefty".  Appearance wise, well it will NEVER win a beauty contest but I'm thinking it probably wouldn't have any way LOL.  Strength wise, I'm coming back~very slow but very sure.  Pain wise, well it's uncomfortable at times but it doesn't hurt near as bad as the day I landed on the curb and had to scoop it up with my right arm cause it was going nowhere on its own.  All in all, I want to try to live with it as it is and just go from here.

The real clincher for me, and hey it doesn't surprise me in the least that God would send a "sign" to me at just the right moment because He always does, happened in the check out of the neighbourhood Dillon's on Monday evening.  I was there in the check out line when from the register one aisle over, I heard someone say to a guy that was paying for his things~"Hey, I see you got your arm taken care of.  Are you feeling a lot better now?"  I fully expected to see someone wearing a beautiful hot pink cast just like the one "old lefty" wore or at the very least a person wearing a sling.  But as I finished buying my stuff, I glanced back behind me and saw a sight that I sure wasn't expecting.  There was a man, probably my own age, coming around the corner being pushed in a wheel chair by someone.  When I looked to see what kind of cast he had on, to my surprise I saw there wasn't a need for one.  For that man, "taking care of his arm" meant that it was amputated and you know, I held "old lefty" a little bit closer to me, a little bit tighter to my heart.  And in the least of things, the VERY least of things, I gave thanks to God.  I am blessed and so may be all of you my dear friends.  

Have a great Thursday, September the 27th in the year 2012.  If you thought yesterday was a great day to be alive in, just WAIT for what's going to happen today!  It'll be even better.

From October of 2011~my dear little friend, Nadonna and fellow member of the "broken arm club".  I went shopping for warm gloves for us to use for the month ahead.  She wore one and I wore the other.  We made "lemonade" out of some very sour lemons and we laughed about it.  Both of us have given back our membership in that club.  We kind of like NOT wearing a cast.