hang in there

"Hang in there" has new meaning for me . Usually the term is used to encourage....such as" hang in there" and everything will be alright in a little while.

My "hang in there" has to do with clothing. Bear in mind that this girl has been on crutches since May 19th. At that time I was literally swept off my feet (not by Prince Charming) but by a 6,000 pound Buick driven by an 83 year old who "didn't see me" walking in the parking lot.

My first reaction was of gratitude that yes,.... I was still alive. I knew I was still alive because absolutely everything hurt! After a wonderful ride in the ambulance to the nearest hospital and a series of x-rays I started a new life. My life of "hanging on to two skinny sticks" (also known as crutches) to mobilize my massive body to where ever I needed to go.

My second reaction was of great physical pain that set in the day after my accident, as every muscle and sinew in my body reacted to the physical trauma of being air borne over the hood of the car only to come crashing down on an unyielding, unforgiving payment." Oh well," I thought , "at least I didn't land on my face!"

My next "hang in there" was waiting. Waiting to see the orthopedist, waiting for an MRI, waiting to hear the outcome and waiting to schedule the surgery. ("Oh well, "I thought," at least I have my wonderful family to distract me and my beautiful grand baby to hold.")

The next "hang in there" was trying to hold it all together and not cry when every one left, under strict orders that if I cried, "Everyone else would lose it too."..."Oh great," I thought, "no pressure here! Now if only I knew how to hold back the great rush of tears that were threatening to explode out of every pore!"

The next" hang in there" was leaving for the hospital to have knee surgery. This was a stirring speech given to me by Mr. Wonderful who assured me, in between telephone calls to the mission, that all would be well . Needless to say "I was hanging on by a thread " at that point and promptly lost it! Down came the deluge of tears, fears, and anger that I was having to go through this ordeal and I should at least have his whole attention! (Hey, I never said, that I was rational!)

The next "hang in there" was by the orthopedist who told me he would see me in 3 weeks and that I should progress nicely. "Oh well," I thought," on to normal now."

So here I am in the newest "just hang in there!" Yes, it involves clothing that are not hanging. It has been 6 weeks since the accident and I'm still doing the "one legged ballet". Mr. Wonderful is still working full time and trying to do all the chores that need to be done on the home front. He is pretty good with keeping up with the laundry but not good at hanging it up. Once it has been washed and dried, it lives in a laundry basket on the floor of our bedroom.

Did I happen to mention just how much that irritates me?

I know that this is really majoring in the minors , but I don't like my clothing all wrinkled and I don't like having to hunt through the entire basket to find what I'm looking for while trying to lift the basket to the bed and balancing my entire body on two skinny crutches. Call me petty, but I am also really tired of being sweet and kind and understanding.

So.....I decided to forget "just hang in there" and HANG IT UP myself. Easier said, than done. It involved crutching with a rolling laundry hamper to the dryer, filling the hamper with the clothing, crutching and dragging said hamper to the bedroom, pushing full laundry baskets that are living on my floor aside with my crutch, grabbing hangers and sitting on the side of my bed folding clothes, laundry and putting shirts, blouses, and pants on hangers. After doing all that.....I promptly threw up! (Thankfully not on the clothing!)

So I'm hanging it up.....as in not trying any more!

If you look for me, I'll be the wrinkled one hanging on by my fingernails!