November 28, 2014
My favorite holiday of every year is Thanksgiving. It is an American invention, families get
together to celebrate, it eliminates politics, and if you’re lucky, the food is
good and plentiful.
That said, it has its pitfalls. For some families the stress of all getting
to the same place, preparing for the mob, and of course, the usual differences
among the attendees can create issues for even the closest families and
friends.
In my case, I go to a huge family Thanksgiving with
Kimberly’s family. They are a close-knit
bunch with five of six sisters regularly coming together at the oldest sister,
Kris’s home. She does have a 45-year
partner, Owen, and they have been holding this grand event for over 40 years. Everybody is in the game and expected to
contribute something to the feast. I
have been invited for 26 years and can’t remember having missed yet. Everybody generally seems to be having a
wonderful time, and it gives us a chance to chat and catch up with the Portland
branch and watch all the kids grow up one year at a time.
Several weeks ago, I had a hip replacement. Not exactly
ordinary because it was a hip that had already been replaced with a prosthetic
18 or 19 years ago. We really can’t
remember when. So, this was a
replacement of a replacement. How lucky
can you get? For the present, the rest of my implants seem to be holding up
pretty well. My recovery has gone
well. I am back to working out with my
Trainer, the great Elias Casolla, and will slowly get back to my regular
routines. I have a deep aversion to pain
meds and since leaving the hospital have not taken anything stronger than
Tylenol. You are not able to take anti-inflammatories
because of the risk of thinning your blood too much. Because I am arthritic throughout my entire
body, I am suddenly able to know exactly where every touch of arthritis
resides. At some point I will be able to
resume a regular routine with my drug of choice, Aleve, but it won’t be for a
few more weeks. There isn’t much more to
say about all of this except I am most fortunate to have had an excellent
recovery most of the way.
For some reason, yesterday, Thanksgiving was one of the
difficult pain days. That ache all over
feeling that makes even the most stoic patient slow and not so nice. So, even though we went as usual, I was not
at my best. After the feast, many of us
have always played charades, but last night that wouldn’t work for me. Also, even though I am grateful for many
things, it is hard to show when it’s not going too well. So, we scrammed home and I hit the deck only
to watch on replay my fav 49er’s play so badly that I turned off the TV and
went to sleep.
That is sort of the end.
Today, I feel more like myself and am most grateful for that. Also, for the fantastic Kimberly, my loving
family including the beautiful and talented Beccy who turned 21 three days ago,
my genuine good health, few worries about material things, and for an older guy
a promising future in my business stuff. Because we cannot predict the future
and for sure there will be changes, I will take this good fortune for right
now. This moment to be mindful of all
the goodness. Be here, be here now.
