This week has been a week of reflection, in large part because I got to stop and catch my breath. On Monday, I got my first sympathetic spinal block in over a year, a treatment that reduces my pain by half (Sounds scary doesn't it!). It was such a relief to be comparably comfortable that I could actually think...uninterrupted, if you will. I don't usually write about pain, it isn't interesting to me, and I suspect it isn't to you either, but lately it has occurred to me that leaving it out completely is lying, in a certain sense.
In the beginning, I invented a code to portray my condition with a sense of humor...my personal preference for all unpleasant truths, but I never did put it up and now it is moot, since the images collected for this purpose are lost. In the meantime, unless someone knows me very well there is no way for them to detect how I am actually doing, and some think I am making the whole thing up. Well, why wouldn't they? In a certain way, I prefer to be mysterious than pitied, more than that, I prefer to be understood. That is only possible if I tell the whole story...something that I resist until it is part of my past. So, I intend to include something about it in future posts...perhaps I will find a humorous way to present this yet.
I have also not posted anything about another life changing event... a fire, so here goes....
I was on my way to Colorado Springs with my last load from Los Angeles. The Volkswagen van I had borrowed from Brian and Stacey in Santa Fe was bigger than my own and was loaded as full as you can imagine while leaving one open bench seat for the cat and the dog. As usual, I had stopped in Tuscon to visit and rest for a few days and had just headed out for a night drive since I had no ac.
About an hour into the drive, the low battery light came on. I know a bit about cars and such so I'm thinking, "Low battery? That means the alternator isn't recharging. I don't need a rest stop, I need a repair stop..." Fluffy, who generally hides begins talking to me so I tip the rear view mirror to see if she's stuck or what and see a flame shooting out the rear. Now, I'm thinking, "What does a low battery light have to do with flames?" as I pull onto the shoulder. "Flames? I have to get out of here!" I grabbed my cell phone to call 911, dialing as I walked around the van. I opened the sliding door, told Fluffy to get in her carrier, clipped Coco to his leash and stepped away with one in each hand and the phone crooked to my ear.
Just then, I realized...my purse...oh no! With an animal in each hand there was no hand free to go back. It was probably a good thing I didn't have a free hand because it took all of my self control to not go back. By the time the fire department got there, the van was fully involved in flames and the entire load was a loss. The police eventually came, and gave me a ride to the nearest truck stop where my friend from Tuscon, picked me up...the rest is, as they say, history.
On a completely different topic, I now have readers in 26 countries...who knew? You are in good company my friend
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