Not Tough Enough
By Joe Rector
On the Friday before July 4th, my sweet wife fell and had a slight fracture of the bone that’s at the outside of the knee. To make it worse, she had skinned her knee and lower legs. Yep, she was quite miserable. We got her home after several hours at the emergency room. It turned out to be the beginning of a rotten few days.
When I went to retrieve the car, the battery was dead. I’d left the emergency flashers on while we were in the ER, and over that time, they’d blinked the power source dry. So, I had to call my son, Dallas, to pick us up. He did (what a hero), and we struggled to get Amy into the house. The hospital sent her home with a set of crutches, but no instruction sheet. As a former and frequent user of crutches as a teen and adult, I can admit that getting the hang of walking with two sticks takes a while to conquer.
Amy fell into bed, but she didn’t feel too bad. Pain pills have a way of taking the edge off of what’s hurting a person. I fetched her iPad, phone, purse, and book before returning to work on the deck. Every few minutes, I’d check on her to see if she needed anything. A couple of times, I lost track of time and worked for half an hour or longer before going back in to check on her.
Over the weekend, I continued the same routine. I also threw in a round of cleaning our house. Tackling the many jobs that Amy completes exhausted me. One night, our friend Lauana Pennell provided supper for us. Bless her! I tried out my cooking skills by popping a frozen lasagna in the oven and fixing bowls of salad. Another night we ate Subway sandwiches.
The day after the 4th, I headed off to complete my wife’s weekly chore of grocery shopping. Although I completed the task in a shorter time than she did, I was exhausted by the time I arrived home. The grass hadn’t been mowed, so I made sure Amy was comfortable and hopped on the mower to cut the areas around the house.
In between times of checking on Amy and completing necessary tasks, I continued to tear off the old boards on the deck and remove screws that wouldn’t let go. With help of brother Jim and son Dallas, I finally pulled the last rotten board off and attached the Trex for which I’d spent too much. Yes, it’s hotter than the eye of a stove, but gone are the rotten boards, nail heads and splinters. By the way, I will never again attempt such a project because this one nearly put me in the ground.
What the last week has reminded me is that Amy works hard every day. She’s retired, and I can’t understand how she did all the things in her life and worked a full-time job at the same time. She received good news from the orthopedist and won’t need a cast. She can walk on the bad leg but might need a cane to help her for a few days.
I’m glad to have my wife on the quick recovery road. The small taste of her job wasn’t pleasant, and I have no desire to trade places with her. I’ll be more understanding from now on. Heck, I might even pitch in and help a little. I pray that she stays healthy because I’m not strong or tough enough to do what she does.
