Hospital Blues

My son and his son were in a horrible accident. They were driving home from my grandson's MMA class. We still don't have many details about the accident itself.

When first responders arrived on the scene both my son and my grandson were unconscious. They used the jaws of life to get my son free. Then they pulled my grandson through his father's side of the car.

My grandson is a tall boy. From his size you would think he was a grown man. But he is only 14 years old so the took him to Children's Hospital.

His leg was broken in 5 places. Bones in his foot and toes were broken. He had surgery to repair them. It was a long surgery. A couple of days later he began complaining that his back hurt. An MRI revealed several compress fractures of vertebrae. His mother is with him and friends and family are in and out to do what they can.

He has healing and therapy ahead of him. Thankfully he is fine otherwise.

My son has multiple breaks in both arms, multiple breaks in both legs. 5 broken ribs, both ankles are broken, three compression fractures in his back, and broken bones in his feet and toes. He has had surgery on one leg and arm to stabilize the bones. He had a second surgery to repair some more of his injuries. Two more surgeries are scheduled for next week.

When they release my son from the hospital he will have to go to a rehabilitation facility where they have the things necessary to take care of him. He is looking at a lot of therapy.

I write this not looking for sympathy. It is to explain that I am taking a break until things are more stable.

Shall We Caucus?

I will bet you wish you knew someone who took part in the Iowa caucus. They have still not announced the results and it is about 16 hours later.

You do know someone. I was there. In my small town we had exactly 21 people taking part in the Democratic caucus.

I felt it was not run as efficiently as I would have liked. I like a little more order than I saw there. This is only my observation and not meant to cast aspersions on the process.

The doors were closed at precisely 7:00 PM as instructed by the rules.  A cover letter was read that explained what we were going to do.

There were local representatives for 3 of the candidates. Since they were residents of our town they would also be voting.

Each representative spoke to the reasons we should vote for their candidate. If someone wished to speak about a candidate who did not have an official representative we were welcome. Two of us did.

Then we were given a card and a pen so we could write the name of the candidate we were voting for. We then were grouped by candidate.

The groups were Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Tom Steyers, Pete Buttigieg, and Amy Klobuchar. That was it.

In order to be "viable" and move on to the next level a candidate had to have at least 15% of the total of votes attending. Bernie Sanders and Tom Steyer were eliminated and their supporters chose other candidates.

In the end Pete Buttigieg had the most supporters. To close the caucus a delegate was chosen to go to the county level and represent the top candidate from our precinct.

So that was the result in my precinct. I have no idea yet what happened in the rest of the state.

I normally keep my political beliefs to myself because I choose not to share them. I will share that my candidate was viable but did not come out on top. I hope he did well in the state. I also hope that people will vote in their primaries too.

Planning Ahead

This is the time of year that we tend to look to the future. Making a few plans is good. It gives us something to work toward. As long as those plans are realistic we might even outline how we will accomplish our goals.

However we should not spend so much time on the future that we forget about today. Life is for living. If you are walking down the street and see some beautiful flowers enjoy their beauty. Smell the fragrance. Touch the petals and feel their delicate silkiness. If a small child is playing take the time to observe the joy the child is feeling. You will smile with joy yourself. If you have a good meal take the time to taste and savor it. If you have good dinner companions have a lively conversation with a lot of laughter.

Dreaming of far away luxurious vacations is enticing. You might even be able to take some of those exotic trips. But there are so many places to go and things to see near home.

Plan some time away from home. You need not go far. It need not be for a long time. You could go to a local museum or have a picnic at a local park. After all some of the best things to see are near to where you live.

Maybe a day trip. Go to a ball game in a nearby town. Visit a famous landmark and buy a few souvenirs. Many state parks have special celebrations at certain times of the year.  Take part in them.

Even a weekend can give you a real break from day-to-day doldrums. Spend a weekend camping and bird watching. Pick a nearby city. See what are the interesting places there and visit them. Eat at restaurants You might not try other times.

Too often we do not take advantage of places close to home. We always think we will do it later. Later is now.

Susan from thecomtemplativecat had a post today that posed some evocative questions. I will print them and give my answers. You might find it interesting to see what your answers are.

If you could live one year of your life over again, which year would you choose and why?

I do not think I want to relive any years. While I enjoy my memories I prefer to look to the future.

If you could learn to be an expert at something without putting in the work, what would it be?

Walking. My knees give me a terrible time of it.

If you could learn a new language instantly, which would you choose and why?

Gaelic. I have taken a couple of online courses but it is difficult when there is no one else to practice with.

If you could give $1 million to any charity, which would you choose?

With that much money I might form my own charity to help children to eat and dress to feel good about themselves. I would follow through to help them establish themselves

 as adults.

When was your Robert Frost moment a la "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..."? The poem (read it here) says you can't go back and that is true. "Way leads on to way" and so forth. But if you could, would you? What is the difference you think it would have made?

I would take the one most attractive. I like overhanging trees and color. I do not think it would have impacted the world one way or the other but I would have been happy to be there.

Time travel: where would you go and when? Why?

Who would you want on your fictional character bowling team? You get to pick four.

I would have liked to be present in Appomattox Courthouse at the end of the Civil War. Two great generals who had great respect for each other discussing the end of a terrible war had to be a great thing to see.

What would you want for your last meal?

A nice juicy steak, baked potato, and Brussel sprouts. For dessert a devil's food cake with fudge frosting like my mother used to make. Maybe some watermelon cubes to nibble on after.

What's your favorite song?

How on earth can I choose? I love music and there is so much to choose from. It would simply be whatever I am in the mood for. One day it might be Louis Prima and the next The Sex Pistols. The Everly Brothers or Credence Clearwater Revival. Vivaldi or Booker T and the MGs. LaVerne Baker or Taylor Swift. Teddy Bears' Picnic or In A Gadda Da Vida. The Irish Rovers or The Vienna Boys Choir. Or anything else.

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

I am probably an extrovert. I do not like to be ignored.

If you came over to my home and I offered you a drink, what would you want me to serve you?
Water would be fine. Iced tea (not sweet tea) is also good. When I was younger and drank alcohol occasionally I liked Long Island iced tea too. But a nice cold beer was good too.

You can answer these just for yourself if you like. I think they are good questions.

 

2020

2019 was a good year for me. I have a roof over my head and plenty to eat. I have clothing appropriate for each season. I have heat when it is cold and cooling when it is hot outside.

I am healthy. I have a way to get myself where I need or want to be. I have family I love and who love me back.

When I was asked before Christmas what I wanted I realized that I have pretty much what I desire. I have a good life.

I am sure 2020 will be more of the same for me.

For you I wish a prosperous, healthy, and very Happy New Year.

The Ghosts of Christmas Past.

There were five siblings in 1957. From left to right:

Gary, one year younger than me. Died 2010
David, six years younger than me. He will be retiring in just a few days.
Randy, two years younger than me. Died 1970
Becky, four years younger than me. In a nursing home after the effects of a stroke.
Me, ten years old. Retired and writing this blog.

            Merry Christmas to all.

To Give; To Get

Christmas is approaching. I have sent off all the gifts that need to be sent. As a matter of fact, my sister who is in a nursing home because of a stroke has already opened hers.

I love Christmas. I suppose it may be that my family did not have much money. We could not afford birthday gifts for instance. We did get to choose our birthday dinners.

At Christmas, my parents went all out. Santa always left us nice toys.

A big production was made of opening gifts. No grab and rip. Each person was handed a gift in turn. That gift was opened. After we all oohed and aahed over it the next person was handed a gift. It would be a long time before we were able to get to breakfast and we loved it.

Giving gifts has always been my favorite part of Christmas. Choosing just the right gift for each person and watching delighted faces as they open them gives me such joy.

Of course, I would feel a little silly if I did not receive a gift too. In my life, I have received a lot of wonderful gifts.

A good one was my first watch. It was a sign of being more mature and I was glad to be recognized that way. The problem was that it felt hot on my arm. I told my mother and she explained that I would eventually get used to having it on my arm.

After complaining several times I finally had proof that the watch was hot. It had burned me and there was a big blister where the watch had been. My father took it back to where it had been purchased. They examined it and found that a tiny drop of oil that should have been there to lubricate the moving parts was missing. I got a new watch and no further problems.

Probably my favorite gift was from a man I was seeing a few years after my husband and I divorced.  He bought several small gifts in size. He wrapped them each separately and placed them in a quilted tote bag which he also wrapped. The gifts were all nice but what I really loved was opening all those small packages. I really am like a child I guess.

The favorite gift I ever gave was to my grandmother. I was in the second grade. We had been working with modeling clay. I made the bust of a woman. It reminded me of Grandma when it was done. I gave it to her for Christmas with the provision that I get it back when she died. (Children are so tactful.)I checked on my "Grandma" every time we visited her. When she died an uncle and his family quickly cleared everything from the house. No trace of "Grandma" was ever found.

Out of all the wonderful gifts you gave or got what were your favorites?