WHY (A 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes Post)

Why?  Why me?  That's the typical reaction many people have when life starts handing them lemons.

I spent the beginning of the year fighting plantar fasciitis.  I could hardly walk, but I worked it out.  Now I'm dealing with my traitorous knee.  I got a cortisone injection yesterday, so it's feeling a lot better, but I'm facing knee replacement surgery in January.  Oh my.  No more running.  No more downhill skiing.  That's going to take a major mental adjustment, because those things are part of my identity.  I'll have to think about myself differently.  Why me?

But, because of these lemons life handed me this year, I haven't been able to walk naturally or ride my bike comfortably.  I've only gone sailing once this summer because I haven't been able to trust my knee, and hence, my balance.  Those are all part of my identity, too.  Once I get past the surgery and recovery, they'll be mine again!  So YAY me!

So, why me?  Well, why NOT me?  I'm nobody special.  We all have our challenges, and these are mine right now, and I'll get through it.  What doesn't kill me makes me stronger, right?

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This post is part of the 31-Day of Five Minute Free Writes challenge link-up.  Today's writing prompt was "WHY."  For more information on the challenge click here.

BELIEVE (A 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes Post)

Last week was my birthday.  I turned sixty-two.  SIXTY-TWO!!!  I mean, I find it really really REALLY hard to believe.  What happened?  How did I get here?  I still feel about twenty-six inside, but then I look in the mirror and wonder what crazy old lady broke into the house.

I just can't believe it.

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This post is part of the 31-Day of Five Minute Free Writes challenge link-up.  Today's writing prompt was "BELIEVE."  For more information on the challenge click here.

AFRAID (A 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes Post)

What am I afraid of?  I've been afraid of lots of different things through the years, but right now, I'm afraid of my right knee.

My right knee has decided to rebel.  It doesn't want to do its job - holding me up!  It's been giving me fits off and on for several months, but it always improved quickly.  Not this time.  It had been giving me twinges a few weeks ago, so I was careful about how I stood up from a picnic table.  I had gotten up a couple of times with no problem, but the third time, when I started to put my weight on my right foot, my knee betrayed me.  I could barely stand.

It has gotten a little better since then, but mainly because I've changed how I walk.  Normally when you walk, your knee flexes a little as you lift your foot off the ground, then extends as you step forward and shift your weight to that foot.  I can't do that without pain.  I've discovered that I in order to walk, I now have to pretend I don't even have a knee.  I keep it straight, and swing it forward like a piece of wood.

As long as I don't flex my knee before I step forward, I can walk, but it's slow going, and really awkward.  Since that day at the picnic table, I don't trust my knee, and I'm afraid to do a lot of the things I usually love to do - hiking, running, bicycling, sailing.  I'm afraid to walk on uneven ground.  If it's not paved, I'm not walking on it!  I use a cane ascending and descending stairs.  Suddenly, I'm walking like an OLD person!

Tomorrow I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon.  I'm afraid I'm headed for a knee replacement.

So, yeah, I'm afraid.

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This post is part of the 31-Day of Five Minute Free Writes challenge link-up.  Today's writing prompt was "AFRAID."  For more information on the challenge click here.

STORY (A 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes Post)

I have a vacation story.  I just got back from a vacation with my sister.  We had planned to go to the Outer Banks, but because of hurricane Florence, we headed in the opposite direction and traveled to the Lake of the Ozarks instead!

The lake is a reservoir behind a hydroelectric dam, just like Hoover Dam, but on a smaller scale.  We started reminiscing about a road trip taken with our parents, many, many, MANY years ago.  As we approached Hoover Dam, our mom started making silly remarks - "There's the damn dam!"  "That's a dam sight!"  To make it even funnier to us, poor Dad kept saying, "Mama, don't talk like that!"  I was young enough that I didn't get what was so hilarious, other than she kept saying DAM.

So we started.  "Look!  There's the damn dam!  That's a dam sight!"  We got to giggling, and it just got worse, especially when we started seeing THE SIGNS.

We saw the Dam Sno-Cone stand and the Dam Candy Store.  We visited the Dam Strip, the Dam Museum, and the Dam Overlook.  Every time we saw, or somebody said, the word "dam," we dissolved into uncontrollable giggles.

It's probably not the most uplifting story, but we remembered Mom, and enjoyed sharing that story and our memories of her crazy sense of humor.

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This post is part of the 31-Day of Five Minute Free Writes challenge link-up.  Today's writing prompt was "RAIN."  For more information on the challenge click here.