Follow up on Car Crash, Week Four

As I mentioned in previous two blog posts, On September 19, I was in a terible car accident. Some reckless driver crashed right into me and totaled boy our cars. I could see him coming right at me and it was light being hit by a speedline train. I was i Cooper Traum for a week, then Atlas Rehab for a week and I have been home for two full weeks. October the 19th will be a month since the nightmare began. My daughter handled alll the Insurance paperwork and my sister was with me every day i the hospital and most days in Rehab. I have been on my own since I came home but I have had company every day - friends visiting, my sister came one day and vacuumed and did laundry, my nephew Archie came and my great-niece Alex; friends brought fruit and cake and soup.

My days have settled into a routine of awakening, getting breakfast, baana, mint tea, then some simple household chores such as the kittly litter boxes which my sister moved into the back room into one line so I coud more easily access them. I feed the cats, do my physical therapy exercises on the porch which are 30 prepititions with a 2 pound dumbell for arms and 30 repetitions of 4 exercises with ankle weights for my legs. The autumn sunshine and fresh air are invigorating and bring me joy as does watching the brisk breezes ripple through the holly trees and the maples which ar just beginning to turn colors.

Every day I am so happy to be home! I make lunch and feed the cats, then in the early evening I settle in to watch Inspetor Morse, usually 2 long episodes and then I watch You Tube aarchaeology documentaries, most recently one about yet another Viking Ssettlement in Labrador, or a standpup comedy show with one of my favorites, Kathleen Madigan, Josh Johnson, Zoltan Kascas, Nate Bargatze. Then I sleep from about 11:30 until 9:00 a.m.

Three times a day my neighbor acrosss the street texts to check in on my as do my friends/neighbors Debby and Eleanor! Aside from texting, I handle some e-mail stuff like yesterday when I printed out 10 pages of a lawyers paperwork for a lawsuit my daughter is arranging in regard to the accident. Also, I pay my bill on line and set up appointments for future things with whomever I can find who is willing to drive me - to pick up prescriptions, get my toenails cut at the nail salon, physical therapy (who is coming today for the first time at 11:00). Nancy drove me to Mt. Laurel to sign my insurance claim papers and to the bank, my handy-main pal Bob Fritsche came and replaced my door knob lock since my keys got lost in the accident.

ShopRite delivers my groceries for a charge of $20. And so it goes. Very cold today! though it looks like it will be mostly in the low 60's for the rest of the week. I am so happy that I have the lovely little porch on my house. There is a colony of small bees in the flagstone floor of the porch over by the side railing, but they don't bother me and I don't bother them in their mysterious little lives which are probably much like mine - their daily chores, meals, maintenance chores.

ot having too much trouble with my state of mind, fortunately, no depression or despair. Having company every day has no doublt been the main spring of my good mood. I think we have all read enough to know social interaction is key to mental stability especially for us old people who can fall so easily into solitude. We are social creatues.

My daughter will marry on October 30, and she has said someone will record it on a cell phone for me. Then in November she will come here and help me buy a car on the 11th and celebrate my birthday. I will be 81 on November 13th. Next comes Halloween and I ordered enough little party favor type trick or treats to cover about 75 kids. My sister may be willing to come here on that day to help me as I am not sure I can sit out on the porch in the cold all that time as my neck begins to hurt when I am up and about for a couple of hours. That is the remaining cost of that reckless driver who attacked me with his car - lingering neck and spine problems.

Still, I am HOME and happy and living my wonderful life filled with joy and wonders. My cat companions are hovering and holding onto me as they are so glad to have me back from my mysterious absence. Their world is once again safe and complete and so is mine!

There is no place like HOME wrightj45@yahoo.com