live and learn

It 's break time here on the hill.  Work was pleasantly dull today so there's that to be grateful for.  However, it's still hot'n'humid.  I'm feeling it for all the folks out tromping around the Obion County Fair about now.  As for me, the stretching continues and maybe my back will straighten itself out if not the finger.  

Ya'll all know how FB throws out random memories.  Well, today was a shot of me in a sling taken two years ago about a month after RTC repair sitting in the rehab with my Mama who broke her femur about two weeks after my surgery.  Picture this: Me in a sling in the ER getting her admitted for emergency surgery the next day.  The guy who did my shoulder also did her spiral fracture and she was in surgery a looooong time.  She went to ICU and then the floor and into the revolving door of rehab.  First there was 30 days locally, then two weeks in Martin followed by a month in a nursing home here.  She swore to her dying day that the reason Daddy talked to himself was that she was gone for four months.  He started long before that.  

We had Thanksgiving there at the home thanks to Cousin Mo's organizational skills and determination.  Granny was still there then and it was a big old room full of kids and elders and in betweeners enjoying family time.  (Of course) I was working but it was right next door so I just walked across the ER parking lot.  That was the last time we were all together.

Fast forward to last year and you find us celebrating the holidays at Maple Ridge with my widowed mother.  We had plans for a birthday lunch on September 9th and early in the morning she had another fall and broke her wrist so, umm.  The sad thing is that she was so upset because she thought she had ruined my day!  That cast was on for about six weeks through UT football season.  She and Harry watched most every game together.  

Mom loved Christmas and Santa Claus more than most any other thing and so did Daddy.  Two weeks into the advent season she got Tracy to take her to church and was moving from SS to service when her hip broke.  BG was on the way to meet her for the service and I was perched at a table at Regina's house of jewelry chatting.  Another ambulance and another ER visit.  I've lost count of how many over the years.  

That was the beginning of the end for her.  The hip was pinned and it failed miserably because : osteoporosis.  This required ANOTHER five hour surgery which went surprisingly well for such a frail one.  She made it to the floor and did well until the bellyache which would have required yet another procedure to repair.  The people I work with are amazing in many ways and I will never forget how my family was treated during times like these.  I feel sure that the first time I see snow again, I'll think of that day before she died.