Yesterday as Brian and I were around back of Buzzy’s Country Store retrieving the front porch vestibule to install it around the Store’s front door, it occurred to me that it was 5 years ago almost to the day that he and I were out back and I fell and broke my hip. (I did this blog post on it back then (click here.))
As we loaded the vestibule onto the truck, I started to comment and make a joke about this anniversary of sorts, but thought better of it. I did not want in any way to arouse nor piss off Lady Karma and have her pay me a re-visit like some ghost from the past. Best to let sleeping, and in particular sleeping and bad memories, lie.
And yet, as I look back to that day 5 years ago, I can say that breaking my hip was a life changing event for me in more ways than I can explain. All the big things in my life view changed that day such as my takes on mortality, health and the way forward into old age. Before my fall, I never really felt nor regarded myself as being old and always opted instead for the “age-is-merely-a-state-of-mind” philosophy of life.
However, post-fall, the months and years of getting used to my new hip have convinced me otherwise. On the eve of my hip surgery back in 2016, the doctor doing the operation warned me that I was in for some tough days ahead because “Most people your age will get a new hip because theirs’ was causing them a lot of pain and discomfort. When I give them a new one they immediately feel much better and are quite happy with it. But in your case, since there was nothing wrong with your hip before you fell, you are going to experience some tough times getting used to having a new one and it is going to take you awhile to bounce back.” When I asked her what “awhile” meant, she said anywhere from 4 to 6 months.
Well, at my 6 month check up, after she had asked me how I was doing, I told her “Not good. I think I should be further along than I am.” She informed me “Remember, I told you that it was going to take approximately 12 months for you to fully recover.” I held off telling her “No Doc, you told me 6 months. It’s been 6 months and I still feel like crap. And now you’re telling me 12 months!”
Bottom line, is that it took me a couple years to eventually feel like I’m where I need to be wrt to having a new joint and learning some new dance steps on life’s revolving stage. As Brian and I finished loading the vestibule yesterday, I did glance over at the spot in front of Dad’s former apartment where I took my tumble 5 years ago. I didn’t look very long however.
The Beatles’ Get Back documentary is currently out and features some behind the scenes rehearsals for how they came up with various songs including one of my favorites Don’t Let Me Down (click here.) When I went looking for the finished product I landed on this great version by Keith Urban and John Mayer. Video has several great moments including 1:30 mark where John looks over at Keith to help fill in a verse for him and Keith immediately jumps in. Seems John was recovering from throat surgey and was having some doo dahs hitting the high notes so Keith immediately jumped in to cover for him. Later in the video at the 3:25 mark Keith’s guitar strap pops off and John tries to help him reattach it. Keith gets it back on and launches into a great solo. John joins in at the 4:00 mark and they trade licks as they finish up a great take on this tune.