Skip to main content

Giving Thanks for Legs and Arms...

You're probably wondering if my heading is the title of a new story. It's not. Unfortunately it's a story that hits close to home.

My husband lost his left leg in a motorcycle accident when our middle daughter Susan was only two. She's in her forties now so that will tell you how long it's been.

Since losing his leg, and after a long recovery at the time, he's been in and out of the hospital dozens of times for a myriad of reasons, most related to the loss of his leg and that bike wreck all those years ago.

However, what I want to say has to do with giving thanks. Giving thanks for the things we have in our lives - like legs and arms and toes and fingers - and not harping on what we do not have.

I realized all over again this morning as he and I made our way to the prosthetic shop, how fortunate I am to have my arms and legs. His knee needed a repair, we thought, because it wouldn't bend anymore, but it ended up needing to be replaced. So, he had to leave his leg in the shop for repairs and come home on crutches.

As he came in the door at home from the garage, his crutches got tangled in the door or the rug and he went down, hitting the back of his head hard on the door.

Though we've made changes to make our lives easier here with only a few steps to get inside the house, we apparently need to do more. Or be more cautious.

I try to be there at every step but I can see I can't stop all his falls.

I know I need to be stronger. Physically stronger. And emotionally stronger.

Right now I'm just giving thanks that he's okay and that I have my legs.

I just wish he had his.

Blessings to you with whatever situation you are dealing with today.
Labels:

Comments

  1. GailSeptember 28, 2010 at 6:32 PM

    Yes, we sometimes forget to be grateful and this reminds us in a kind way.

    My husband was complaining to his friend(had no legs) about his ingrown toe nail and how much it hurt. The friend looked at him and said, Do you know how much I would give for an ingrown toenail?

    Kinda stopped Hubby in his tracks...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pam Andrews HansonSeptember 28, 2010 at 11:24 PM

    But he has you and you are truly a blessing to him and you have him....
    Many hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alissa GrossoSeptember 30, 2010 at 10:06 AM

    So true. Too often people focus on the negative. We always need to remember to be thankful for what we have.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kellie CollisSeptember 30, 2010 at 11:47 AM

    I couldn't agree more. Our focus should always be on the blessings that we receive and not on what we do not have. Have a lovely day! Kellie xx

    ReplyDelete
  5. B. WHITTINGTONSeptember 30, 2010 at 2:32 PM

    So appreciate all the comments. I still need to be reminded to be thankful each day.

    Blessings! It's a beautiful day here in Ohio and I hope it spreads to your part of the map as well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Deb ShuckaSeptember 30, 2010 at 5:08 PM

    I think we all need an occasional reminder to be grateful for all the abundance in our lives. Thank you for sharing yours.

    How weird it must be to be able to say, "I left my leg behind for repairs." :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownOctober 3, 2010 at 7:42 AM

    God Bless,Barb. Give Raymond a hug for me. You both have certainly been through crap this year. Here's to a new and healthy new year!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. LothirielOctober 3, 2010 at 11:12 PM

    Aw man! I hope he's ok, now.
    It does make me feel very grateful I have all my limbs. I'm thankful my baby was born healthy. I cannot imagine being in that situation. But what matters is family support amd love.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shingles: not the roofing kind...

Just when I thought things could not get any worse at our house my husband R came down with shingles. On the day I had to be at the hospital in Columbus with one adult daughter in the morning and then go to Cincinnati to pick up her husband after his stomach surgery the day before, R gets up with a rash that had turned to blisters. We made a quick dash 40 miles away to our family Dr. for a check up and yes my diagnosis was correct. Shingles! So armed with two medications we headed to the medical center to see our daughter, then to Cincinnati to pick up her husband and then home to collapse and hope that that's the end of our downward spiral. I'm worn to a frazzle and so is R. No time for writing or fretting about writing. I do feel good knowing that I have some contest entries out (short stories and one novel) and will be working on my novel at least two days this coming week. I have my writers meeting on Monday at Great Expectations Cafe and Book Store and look for...
21 comments
Read more

A Revolutionary New Diet...

Recently I went on a diet. Like most diets this one was scheduled around a major life event. My daughter's wedding. There would be no shopping for a mother-of-the-bride dress until the pounds came off. Typically I go on a diet on Monday and by Wednesday I've folded beneath the weight of a German chocolate cake. I've been hijacked by as little as a stale pink sugar wafer discovered in the dark recesses of the bread drawer. But this time things were going to be different. I could tell as I went to get the mail and discovered the first crocus of the season. Life was looking up. Even though an icy rain began to fall, my spirits weren't dampened. Not even when huge drops pelted me on the head and I had to dash inside. My latest plan would revolutionize dieting. If it worked for me it would work for the world. I smelled a book deal. I could see myself all made-over and liposuctioned sitting between Oprah and Dr. Oz. It was full speed ahead. Gone were those complex menus...
23 comments
Read more

Mother's Leather Britches...

My mother gardened all her life. It was one of her great loves, next to family, God, and country. Because she grew up during the Depression, she learned to use every last item from her garden for canning, preserving, drying or pickling. Every year at the end of the green bean season she made leather britches, dried beans that would keep for the winter. These were the last beans hanging on the vines. The beans inside had grown to full size with outsides a bit withered. They were beyond the stage to can or preserve, or even to pickle. Although her fried pickled green beans and corn bread were the best in the world. (Well, next to her biscuits and fried apples.) Mother started the drying process with clean beans. She would spread a clean white sheet on a table in the wash room and spread the beans out on that, giving them space to dry. Sometime she would carry the sheet outside and put them on a table in the sun to further the process. The next step involved needle and thread ...
18 comments
Read more