REFLECTIONS
It’s true! Growing old is not for sissies. I’ve found that out during my trials and tribulations of the past several weeks, as I have been fighting a bad back, Parkinson’s Disease, and other injuries.
I write this column from a chair in a courtyard at the Prairie Home Care Center in Blooming Prairie. My life of hard knocks and bruises became even more complicated last month, when I rolled over on the property of the Veteran’s Memorial in Blooming Prairie.
Our family had just returned from a five-day stay at Disney World in Orlando, Fla. to celebrate my 80th birthday. It was on a Monday morning that I met Joyce Johns and her lieutenants, and the chair of Express Pressure Washers, who was receiving the Blooming Prairie VFW's Patriotic Citizen Award. Each year, the VFW Auxiliary presents a certificate to a business or family that has been faithfully flying the American flag during the past year.
I did a brief interview and then had my wife, Judy, take a photo of the flag flyers. After completing that assignment, Judy and I decided to check out seven plaques of honor displayed for Memorial Day.
After getting Judy to take my photo in front of a plaque, we decided to head for home. “Follow me,” Judy exclaimed as she headed toward our car. I was pushing my walker and all of a sudden hit some loose gravel and took tumble. Judy said she heard me scream and looked toward the memorial to see me flying in the air out of control. I knew I was going to crash and there was no way to avoid it, so I held on to the walker and hit the ground.
From then on, my life literally became a humbling affair.
My left side absorbed the fall. I knew it was serious – I summoned Judy, and she rushed over. Jon Esplan was first on the scene. He kept us quiet until the ambulance arrived. Police Chief Greg Skillstead was soon on the scene and comforted me, as did Judy. “Get me up,” I ordered Judy, because I knew that I would not be able to get up on my own accord.
The ambulance arrived, led by Jay Iverson and Kathy Pillar. It took a team lift to get me into the ambulance. My memory becomes a blur from that period on.
I was transported to the hospital in Owatonna. It was then decided that I would go either to the hospital in Mankato, or to the hospital in Rochester. Mankato was finally chosen. I was a patient at the Mankato Hospital for five days. Where to from there? I was put into a package on a private carrier. My temporary home was to be in Blooming Prairie at the Prairie Home Care Center. I would rehab here in my home town of Blooming Prairie. Ironically, I grew up on a small dairy farm just 7½ miles away from Blooming Prairie.
What a beautiful community we have that will embrace a fallen resident. It’s not going to be easy to complete this rehab time, but with support from many, we can make it. Judy says she believes I have broken every bone in my body. In the most recent escapade, I broke two bones in my neck, broke my elbow and broke my hip.
My rehab is going well, and I hope to be home again soon.