The Week and The Year That Was---

The last time I posted, we were still at Lake Somerville outside of Brenham.  We had planned a return visit to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory the following week and the day before we planned to go, they announced their complete shutdown, to the utter dismay of our crew.  Not only were we deprived of the treat in their ice cream parlor, but now the entire nation is as the product is removed from all retail store shelves.  What a way to start the summer season.

We decided to visit the George H. W. Bush (#41) Presidential Library on the campus of Texas A&M University before ending our adventure.  This trip was extremely enjoyable and I learned quite a bit about our 41^st President and his family.  One of the things that really stood out for me was this statement (see picture below) he made while in office.

After touring the interior of the library we visited the garden area and the cemetery where the President and his wife, Barbara will be buried.  It is a stop we recommend you make when in the College Station area.  It was informative and inspirational to see how this man chose to live his life and the experiences his family had over the years.

After leaving the area, we returned to Longview to find the monsoon season had set in.  All the lakes we visited and saw were severely low due to drought conditions from prior years yet in a single month’s time most had recovered to the point that there was flooding due to release of water to maintain safe pool levels.  It is incredible to realize just how much rainwater had to fall to bring these lakes back to normal levels yet here it was happening right before our eyes.

Of course the rain wreaked havoc on our yard while gone.  Sunshine, beginning of the growing season and plentiful rain combined to create the jungle of all jungles of grass in the yard.  In fact, it was so wet mowing was impossible therefore it just grew and grew.  So the order of the day was to mow at the highest setting whenever we got a few days of sunshine to allow some semblance of drying.

It was at this point something happened that affected our immediate future.  The lawnmower broke!  Not just any mower but the only riding mower we owned capable of managing the jungle that had grown up while traveling.  Beverly and I had been thinking about our future and planned a discussion in the fall about going full-time in our RV like our good friends David and Sophie.  So it seemed this was as good a time as any to discuss since we either needed to commit to such a plan or spend over $2,000 to replace an aging mower that continually seemed to break down.

Well after a few days of in-depth discussion, we took the very natural course of deciding to rid ourselves of the sticks and bricks house and land which eliminated the need to replace the mower and begin a full-time RVing experience.  Of course we still had to address the immediate needs of mowing.  David comes to the rescue, once again.  He managed to get the mower operational enough to limp through the current mowing season while we get all of our ducks in a row to begin this new chapter in our life.

Now fast forward to July and the week that was.  After contacting an estate sale organization, discussing the sale of the house with the children, making plans to actually transition to full-time Rving, we have made significant progress with getting things arranged and in order.  In fact, we actually moved into the RV and out of the sticks and bricks house on Friday July 10^th and took the RV to Texarkana to watch our grandson’s team play baseball in the state tournament.

Then “IT” happened.  When exiting the bleachers after the first game, I slipped and fell.  When my left foot hit the ground, I immediately knew things were not right.  After I fell and bounced a couple of times, I realized I could not move the left leg at all and there was an extreme amount of pain.  An ambulance was called and I was transported to a hospital.  After some time had elapsed, they moved me to an x-ray room to take pictures.  The tech was having difficulty getting the picture due to my position and pain when they tried to move me around.  So the doctor was called to take a look at the pictures to see if what they had done was all that was needed or more maneuvering and pictures were called for.

Up until this time, I did not realize just how serious this injury was.  When the doctor came in and went around a small wall to look at the picture, I heard him exclaim, “Oh My!!!” I then knew how much trouble we were in.  As it turned out, I had a Tibial Plateau Fracture.  Yeh, me either.  Best way to explain it, the top of the main lower bone in the leg, the portion behind the knee cap had exploded.  As the doctor said, it is like Humpty Dumpty and would require surgery to put back together again.

Long story short.  I was transported by ambulance from Texarkana back to Longview for surgery and rehab where we will maintain our home base.  For three months no weight at all is allowed on the left leg, which means I have to hop using only my right leg and a walker from point A to point B.  For longer distances, a wheelchair is used.  Then after the three months, if healing has advanced enough, I begin the process of physical rehabilitation and learning to walk again.  So our process and plans to start the full-time adventures in the fall have been put on hold and delayed until the first of next year probably.

Hardware needed to put Humpty Dumpty back together

The hero in this story is Beverly.  She has to be my arms and legs for EVERYTHING.  She has more on her plate than she deserves.  The first day I was in the hospital, she and her siblings were called and said they needed to come to the other hospital in town, their mother had been moved to ICU and was not expected to make it through the night.  Her mother had fallen and broke a hip, had surgery and been in a nursing home rehab center when her health took a turn for the worse and she was moved to the other hospital in town.  So she is shuttling between hospitals looking after her mother and me who both are down.

Good news is that things have settled into somewhat of a routine, albeit still stressful for my wife, for the time being.  Her mother has recovered from the seriousness of that night and is now back in the nursing home rehab facility and I have been relegated to a routine that is relatively uneventful for her.  Beverly still is my hands and feet but we are learning how to manage for the time.  Here is a picture of her mother and me recently.  We ended up at the doctors’ offices (our doctors are different but in the same practice group) at the same appointment time.  Looking at her, you would not think she recently was very close to death, while I look like I am ready anytime to bite the bullet.

Major fun - aggravating each other!!!

So far now, our adventures are curtailed.  Our traveling companions are patiently waiting for my recovery so we can begin.  As Sophie said, this may be God’s way of teaching me to pace myself and slow down.  I commented, God not only slowed me down, the brakes were completely put on because I cannot do anything right now but sit.

Our other friends (Sam and Brenda), even had to make a special trip to Texarkana to retrieve the motorhome and drive it back to Longview for us.  So it pays to have great friendships but even more it pays to have a loving spouse.  Maybe that is the REAL lesson.  We will post again to update the progress and describe the beginning of the full-time adventures in a few months.  Until then, stay safe and watch out for the falls, they can be BRUTAL.  Just sayin'