in the days of "old lefty"

"In the days of "old lefty", my smashed to smithereens broken left arm, I had to get used to the fact that for one, my arm would never be the same again and for yet another, I'd be wearing a long arm exoskeleton for the better part of the next  7 months.  A split second decision to jump the front curb near my home at the end of my daily bicycle ride would prove to be disastrous for me as well as change my life forever.  I remember so well the second to the last day of confinement for me before the cast would finally be removed.  I was at school, working on paperwork on a late winter Sunday afternoon.  It hit me as I was unlocking the car door to go home and it hit me hard. My arm was itching, big time, and anyone who has ever sported any type of cast for any length of time will understand perfectly well what I am talking about.  The more I thought about it, the more it itched and after what seemed to be a gazillion days of having to wear it, I just wanted that cast off right THEN and right THERE.  The mile drive back to my home proved to be pretty anxious for me and seriously, I mean really seriously I was beginning to hatch a plan to find something at home to take it off all on my own. I didn't know what I'd tell my good doctor when I saw him, left arm bared, in his office on Tuesday but it didn't matter.  That thing was coming off that day, even if I had to do it myself."

 Luckily for all concerned, especially me, I didn't remove the cast on my own that day.  By the time I got close to home, I decided to call my good friend Ron and explain how things were going and by the way, how things were going was not good.  I told him I was coming by his house and to have his black magic marker ready because I had something I needed for him to do.  I wanted a visual reminder on that baby blue, nearly dang up to my shoulder cast that would help me  to hang on until Dr. Chan could properly and safely remove it in his Wichita office in less than 48 hours.  Ron wrote the message above for me that afternoon and somehow or another I found peace in it, allowing me to calm down and be assured that the time of healing was nearly through.  The message on the cast was one that I later on had tattooed on my left leg, a message of hope to a crazy Kansas cyclist who unfortunately that ill-fated day had been riding more like a carefree 9-year old than the responsible 55-year old woman that I should have been.  The words from the Good Book can be found in the 15th Chapter of John, reading from the 13th verse, the "no greater love hath a man than this" one.  "8-10-11" was the day that I received a bone section from a cadaver's body to restore my wrist to some sense of semi-normalcy. " Mo. 2  Ks.", helps me to remember that an unknown Missouri man, ten years younger than myself,  donated all of his usable body parts upon his death so that many people (me included) could have their lives restored.  "Eleanor" represents the gift, the life changing present that I received that morning in the operating room of the Surgery Center of Kansas. 

"Old lefty's" scars are still there although over time they have begun to fade a bit.  My left hand looks pretty much different than my right but it's been so long now that I hardly think about it any longer.  One of the first things that I did when I met "the 18" back in August here at Olathe Elementary was to tell them what had happened to me.  One of them noticed the scar running along the inside of my arm and after he asked about it, I just figured it was as good a time as any to tell them of my accident.  You know sometimes, no let me say that a different way, it's ALWAYS just good to be honest with kids.  They figure it out any way so why not let it be from you?  We had a great talk about it, turning it into a lesson on riding your bike safely and they really haven't even said that much about it since that day early on in the school year.  Except for the fact that everything from my left shoulder to the tips of my fingers is different than before, I can do whatever I want or need to.  And one of those things that I want or need to is getting ready to happen very soon.

There's a sweet little baby named Catherine Lois and she's waiting for me to come and see her.  I'm her grandmother from far, far away and we will  meet one another for the first time by early in the wee hours of morning tomorrow.  I get to spend five days with her and hold her in my arms.  I already love her very much and I hope that she will love me too.  I don't know what it is yet that grandmothers do but I will try my best to figure it out.  I won't be able to see her very much as she grows up but I will always keep her close to me in my heart, a place where the miles cannot separate us.  I have waited a long time for a grandchild and I'm so grateful to be the recipient of the blessing of one.

All of my things are nearly packed and I'm travelling as "light" as I can.  As soon as school is out today, I'll be heading for the airport and the Great Northwest.  Friends, you have prayed me over the mountains many times in my journey back and forth to Kansas.  If you would be so inclined, would you pray me safely through the air?   The flight is nearly 3 hours plus a ferry ride across at the end.  I'm not afraid of anything and if I should become anxious and fearful, I'll remember the reason why I'm going in the first place.  All will be well, I'm sure! 

I think I've said it before in a blog post somewhere along the line, but for some reason I feel compelled to say it as I close this one today.  Friends and family, I love you all.  I am so grateful for your presence in my life.  Thank you for all you have done for me, anything.  The least of things and the greatest of things.  I'm beholden to all of you and perhaps some day I shall be able to do for you what so many of you have done for me.  If I never got the chance to say so again, and I WILL get the chance just for the "record", then I will have said it this day. 

This is a great day to be alive in, a great day to meet a granddaughter on, and come very soon that's exactly what I am going to be doing.  Take care everyone out there and be well and at peace with life.  It's really a good one after all, isn't it?

 In retrospect, I am very glad that I let the expert take off that long arm cast that day.  Things worked out a whole lot better for me that way. 

There surely seemed to be a whole lot of arm-breaking going on that year.  We all survived :)