Just When You Think It Can't Get Worse

It's been a minute since I've had the "want to" to take a minute and update the blog. Truthfully, I just didn't have anything I wanted to say. I try to use this space in a positive way, and frankly, I haven't been so positive lately.

I thought that things couldn't get any worse after the accident with the livestock trailer back in December....boy was I wrong. Fast forward to June and the unthinkable happened. An ordinary Thursday afternoon, loading hay bales. Something we've done countless times before. I was driving the pickup, Rick was tossing bales onto the truck, and my 77-year-old father-in-law was stacking them. The next thing you know, he's on the ground...unconscious. Before you know it, we find ourselves at a high level trauma center an hour away at 2am and we hear the words....cervical fracture. That's right, our dear Pop had broken his neck. I know....seriously?!

Like I said.....Just when you think it can't get worse....it certainly can....and will.

I'll spare you the gory details, but fast forward 7 weeks....Pop has been home from the rehabilitation center for one week. His neck brace has been removed. He is walking (with a walker) but walking still. He still has to complete some physical therapy and some other issues in regards to tingling in his hands and feet, and some bladder issues....but wow...it could have been a thousand times worse.

I gripe and complain sometimes and I really need to remind myself to just stop and count my blessings. I am fortunate to have a wonderful husband, healthy children, a good job, a roof over our heads, and food in our stomachs. I've been in a whirlwind of emotions over these past several weeks. Everybody tells me not to worry, that it will be OK, but I've always been a worrier. It's just in my nature. True contentment is a deep-seated sense of accepting who and where you are at any given moment. Too often, we get so entrenched in our busy lives that we don’t even notice where we are now. When we finally come up for air, we focus more on where we were or where we want to be instead of where we are now. In other words, our focus is on the past or the future, rather than the present.

But just like one of my favorite movies, The Notebook, just when you think it can't get any better, it can. Pop is on the mend. The farm is doing well. The cane fields look fabulous. It will be time to squeeze that juice and cook that 'lassy in no time. It's July but I can feel Fall coming!

“All that matters in life is that you are happy with where you are, what you are, and with whom you are. Everything around you will be happy and smile with you. If that isn’t success, then what is?”

― Debasish Mridha