June 10 - “Surgical Report”

We started the day with a mini-flurry of activity. We wrote some notes, but the main activity was preparing for the big surgery. 

Chris didn’t have much to add to the big ol’ “Stuff Bag.” The miracle  after-surgery shirt that buttons from the side. Her jacket. A container for her glasses and watch. A notebook to take notes in. Her wallet. Why the wallet? She insisted on driving to the hospital. Kind of her last stab at independence for a while. 

My contributions to the Stuff Bag were a bit more extensive, however. A book to read. My crossword book, in case I get bored with the other book. Phone charger. My long-sleeved shirt. My water bottle. Oh. And did I mention a plethora of snacks? Pretty wide range from a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to some bite-sized Mounds bars. I was plenty set for some stress eating. 

Well, add to that the timing of the whole thing. We had to arrive at 11:30. Yep. Lunchtime. And of course Chris hadn’t eaten since supper the night before. She was getting hungry. 

Once we arrived and got checked in, we had some pretty special visitors. Cailyn and her friend Arwyn rounded the corner. (Hope I got the name right). They stayed and chatted even after they took Chris back to get changed into her runway-quality garb. They didn’t want to come all the way back in, though. Thanks for being there, girls (and for listening to my version of the famous Nana Falls).

Christina came after a bit, and Kel joined her. They stayed in until we were all run out so they could begin the anesthesia stuff. Kel hung out with me, and Christina went to get us some Whataburger. 

We also got texts from Nathan (he’s in Colorado at a training thing). April, Josh, Lauren, and Diane also checked in. 

The surgery took about an hour and a half. The doc explained that everything went almost as expected. It was a bit worse than he expected though. He repaired the biceps tear. He showed me a picture - looked pretty significant to me. He added an extra patch to help with healing the rotator cuff, I think (he wasn’t satisfied with the tissue available), but otherwise all came out well. 

The pharmacy called me to explain her meds. Fortunately I had heard of all of them (I have probably taken all of them at one time or another). They said they would bring them to her in the recovery room. That was a plus, for sure. As it turned out, they delivered them to me in the waiting area. Even better. 

The anticipated 45 minute stay in the recovery room stretched into almost two hours. Fortunately, when they did finally call me back, April swooped in to save the day. By that I mean she stood quietly by - an awe-inspiring … presence. It was so good to have another set of medical ears for those discharged instructions. Thanks so much, April. 

We finally made it home somewhere around 5:30 or 6. Chris settled into the recliner, sipped on some potato soup, and gradually drifted back to sleep. What a day!

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭10‬ says, Those who are persecuted for righteousness are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

Father, bless Chris’ doc and his team. Ease her pain over the next few days. Amen. 

June 9 - “Big Surgery Day”

Well, yesterday was T minus one day and counting until Big Surgery Day. Yep. That’s today. More on that later. 

That one day away thing meant we had to get everything in tiptop shape. That meant starting with mowing and edging. Check. Then I crawled up on the roof (don’t tell our kids) and did some hurricane trimming of tree limb as that might endanger the roof in a storm. Meanwhile, Chris was watering all the plants. Yep. Quite the morning.  

After some lunch we HAD to make a Walmart run. I mean … no bananas. Come on. Actually, we had a whole shopping list this time, so we made an hour or so out of it. Add to that filling up the car with gas. Had to get it ready for this afternoon’s trek up to UTMB surgery North. 

Speaking of surgery … please shoot to some prayers for this afternoon. Chris is going under the knife, so to speak. Actually, how would you colloquial-ize arthroscopy? Hmm. I’ll have to ponder that one. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭9‬ says, The peacemakers are blessed, for they will be called sons of God.

Father, please be with Chris today. Help her (and me!) to be calm and peaceful. And guide the doc’s hands as well. Amen. 

June 8 - “That was just rude and …”

We left Waco for home right after church. It’s always good to see the many people who have kind of adopted us into the fold, so to speak. One of them even mentioned a connection with the Galveston Fire Department. A random relative of hers by marriage. It was a name I vaguely recognized I’ll have to check into it to see if he’s still with us. 

We got home just in time to change clothes and head west. Josiah was having a birthday party at the beach down that direction. One of our favorite parts came when Jachin tossed some bread on the ground near where a lady was sitting. 

Anyone who has frequented Galveston Beach knows what happens when you release a piece of bread into the wild. Seagulls. They began flocking around here. More and more arrived. So many that the poor lady got up and walked away. And unbeknownst to her, Jachin and his bread followed … as did the seagulls. 

Chris finally caught up with him and made him stop. She told him, “That was just rude and mean and hateful … and really funny!” Thats my grandson …  And my wife. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ says, The pure in heart are blessed, for they will see God.

Father, thank you for Josiah. Bless him with joy for living. Amen. 

June 7 - “Waco Walk”

I gave Chris her anniversary gift in the morning. Christine was my accomplice in the whole thing. She even got a gift badge with all those little white papers sticking out of it. Quite the presentation look. Thanks, Christi. 

Oh! What was the gift, you might ask? Well, I looked up the appropriate gift for a 51st anniversary. Seems you have a choice between emerald and marble. So I found the perfect meld of those two. I got her two emerald-colored marbles. I know. Weird, right? Actually, they are supposed to be used as Chinese stress relievers as you play with them in the palm of your hand. I figured they would also be helpful during her rehab process to keep those muscles active. 

We got a walk in yesterday. A Waco Walk. Sounds more exciting that way. Actually, we went with Josh when he took MaddieBelle for a walk. Just covered about a half mile, but Maddie made it quite the challenge. 

The afternoon was set aside for AnnaGrace’s dance performance. She was in four different styles of dance. Jazz, ballet, lyrical and tap. Quite the prolific dancer, that one. And of course she was the best one up there every time she came onstage. Very confident. Big smile. Very proud of you, girl!

To close out the night, we celebrated the accomplishment with a trip to AnnaGrace’s favorite place of cuisine, Freddy’s, a local hamburger establishment. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭7‬ says, The merciful are blessed, for they will be shown mercy.

Father, bless all those youngsters who danced yesterday. They gave it their all. Amen. 

June 6 - “Happy Anniversary, Chris!”

Yesterday started out pretty … interesting. We had a kids’ fishing trip planned for our friends Corbin and Rachel and their two little girls (and Grandma KayLynn and Grandpa Cary). 

When I got up to load up the car, however, it was pouring down buckets - monsooning, if that can be a word. Not great for a fishing trip. But by the time I loaded up the car and headed out to get some bait, the rain had subsided. The window of “clearedness” had settled in. Still not great fishing conditions, but at least the girls could get a line in the water and play with the bait shrimp. 

And they did really well. They each caught three or four fish, and Lily even caught a keeper redfish. One of those adults promised to cook it for her. Hope you enjoy it, Lily. 

I caught one fish. But oh that one. It gave me the second hardest/ longest battle I have ever had with a fish (first was a Jack Crevalle at the beach). This one took at least ten minutes of fighting, probably more. I finally got it on shore with the help of my more-than-capable net man, Cary. It was a full-grown (ie 36 inches long and really heavy. I didn’t have a scale to weigh it) black drum. 

I wasn’t sure at first if it really was a black drum. It had no distinctive black stripes on its sides, which made it look almost like a miniature grouper. But as Chris and I researched it, the stripes are only visible on juveniles. So this was just a really old dude drum. 

It was great fun to catch. And our guests all seemed to get a kick out of seeing a fish that big get caught right in front of them. Thanks for inviting me on your fishing trip, Lily and Clara. Let’s do it again sometime. 

Our afternoon was spent on the road. It was our 51st anniversary trip time. Well … today IS our anniversary. And we DID take a trip. This one, however, was a quick shot up to Waco. AnnaGrace was having her big dance recital, so we couldn’t miss that one. Besides, we stopped for a Whataburger on the way out of town yesterday, and I’m taking Chris out somewhere, so that counts for the anniversary dinner and date, right? And after all, I named this blog installment “Happy Anniversary, Chris,” so I’m good, right?

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭6‬ says, Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, for they will be filled.

Father, thank you for my awesome wife. Give her peace about the surgery. Amen. 

June 5 - “Just foolishness”

Well, it happened again. Just as we stepped onto the porch to start our walk, the rains began. It’s one thing to already be in the middle of a walk when the rains come. Then it becomes part of the adventure. But to start out in it? With the possibility of lightning? Nope. That’s just foolishness. 

Instead we did the usual Thursday clean house for home group. Except this time I did the vacuuming, sweeping, and mopping. Chris cleaned the toilets and dusted. Got it done. 

After working some on the latest jigsaw puzzle (Northern Lights!), we raced over to Walmart. Needed some … cookies. Bananas are on the list for Monday. And while we were there, Chris got my anniversary present (51 years, come Saturday!). It was an otter box phone case. Mine was falling to pieces. 

Last night we had home group. Sandy even brought cupcakes in celebration of her upcoming birthday. Kind of like they do in elementary school, right? Yum. Happy birthday, Sandy. 

Oh, it was the last meeting for the foreseeable future. At least until we get a handle on the Chris’ arm surgery. We’ll see … 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭5‬ says, The gentle are blessed, for they will inherit the earth.

Father, thank you for our home group folks. Bless Sandy on her birthday. Amen. 

June 4 - “18”

I finished out my fire department visits. Three stations one day, and the other three the next. Of course, there are three different shifts, so technically there are six stations with three shifts at each. So, 18 different crews. Whew. That’s a lot to try to keep up with. Definitely could be a full-time job. But the guys are all great. And there are usually a few new hires to connect with. 

Chris had a visitor while I was gone. Suzann came over. She’s our barber/hair stylist. She cut mine Sunday at church, so it was Chris’ turn. She always does a great job. Yesterday was no exception. Thanks, Suzann. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭4‬ says, Those who mourn are blessed, for they will be comforted.

Father, bless Suzann. She’s pretty special to us. Amen.