Sometimes you just can’t take your husband out in public. This was one of those times.
Last Thursday when we went in for his follow-up x-ray/meeting with the surgeon, they gave him a pair of shorts a few sizes too large; he just couldn’t help but goof off a little.
Despite the goofing off and the smiles, we had been a little anxious about finding out what the x-ray would tell us, waiting to discover if the break in his femur was healing well.
And the news was great! The break is still a little visible but healing up well. The surgeon gave Steve permission to trade the walker for a cane and to start driving whenever he felt ready. Steve and I were both teary after the surgeon left the room; such good news!
It didn’t take long for Steve to decide he was ready to drive. This is his first time behind the wheel of his Mazda in six weeks. Mazda’s motto is “zoom-zoom” and that’s just what he did.
And then yesterday morning, for the first time in six Sundays, he brought the car around to the side deck for me to get in. So nice to feel a sense of normalcy coming back.
ONE Meagan brought dinner on the evening of Steve’s appointment, with the whole family ready to be comforting if the news was disappointing or ready to rejoice if it was good. It’s amazing that food can go either direction.
It was especially thoughtful of Meagan to do that since their big moving truck has not yet arrived and so much of her cooking stuff is still packed away. The only table they have is a card table and chairs we loaned them
TWO Speaking of them moving, when we were helping them carry everything in from their small truck last week, Meagan looked at Nathan walking by so hard at work and blurted out, “I just love that man.”
And then she looked at me and said, “Thank you for making him so that I could have him.”
That was one of those memorable comments that brought me both tears and laughter.
THREE On Saturday, Sarah, Meagan, and I went out to lunch. As we were driving to the restaurant I couldn’t help but comment that I never thought I would live in a city with both of my daughters nearby. They are such treasures to me.
FOUR And speaking of family, tomorrow marks the arrival of two people who are very dear to us–my sister, Debbie, and her husband, Randy. They will stay with us for a week.
We have been looking forward to this for a long time and plan on having a rip roarin’ time now that Steve can zoom-zoom along on his cane!
It’s especially nice that they can see Sarah and Gage and Nathan and Meagan and the kids–all in the same trip. It will be a busy, family-filled week which I’m really looking forward to after so many weeks of virtual solitude.
If you’ve ever moved, especially with kids, you know what a transition it is–especially when you are at your new place for two weeks without all your stuff! (I just heard from Meagan that their big truck is arriving tonight at 7 p.m.)
Nathan and Meagan have done so well with everything, as always, working as a team to get it done. Nathan is juggling the move, and getting his family settled in while still doing his very demanding and time-consuming remote job for Duke Energy.
Since his nice desk and chair are still packed away, he has set up camp at yet another of our card tables and making the best of it. You can’t really see his chair, but it has a Coke motif and was in his bedroom when he was a young teenager. Full circle!
Brothers and friends.
Driving through a zoo/park which they all loved.
My dishwashing helper.
Welcome to North Carolina, Floridian Smiths. We are looking forward to lots of zoom-zooming around with you.
What about you?
Do you have family living close or far away? What is the furthest you have ever lived from your family? What’s the closest you have lived to family members?
Has the month of April been a time of zoom-zooming for you or has it been more restful?
Shortly after getting married, my husband and I moved to Malaysia for 10 months. It was so difficult to be so far away from my parents. It was 1987, so long before the internet and texting. We were 12 hours apart and my loneliest hours were when my family was fast asleep on the other side of the earth. Fortunately, we came home for Christmas and my mother was able to come visit.
Jackietex,
What an adjustment to be newly married and also living so far away from your family. I can only imagine how lonely that was for you. Glad you got to go home for Christmas and your mother could visit. I’m sure you made a lot of memories during that time!
Glad Steve is healing well. My husband just finished PT on his shoulder after 3 months. He will follow up with surgical PA on Monday. I have lived in this same city since I was 3 months old. When I got married we moved about 4 miles away from my parents. Then we moved a few miles farther away only to next move around the corner from them for many years. Then we moved to our current location about 8 miles away and have been here almost 20 years. I lived with my Mom for the last 10 years of her life and moved back “home” about 2 years ago. My daughter and her family live about 20 miles from us and our son lives about 170 miles away (near Orlando). We hope to all be united in early June for a couple of days. 🙂
Marylea,
Glad your husband is well along on his journey of recovery from surgery. I’ve heard shoulder surgery is a tough one; I know you’re both relieved he is recovering so well and has the worst of it behind him.
I hope you all have the best time being together with your family in June. Definitely something to look forward to!
Wow, Meagan is Super Mom and then she fixes food for you. What a blessing she is. Steve reminds me of one of my bro-in-laws – he would do the same thing if he had gotten XL shorts. Steve does make the most of what is handed him and Nathan seems to do the same thing. So glad Steve is able to drive again – well, so is he!!!!! and to hear his leg is healing so nicely. PTL! Those wonderful helpers with the dishes. My granddaughter when very small, use to stand on the door of the dishwasher and get the dishes for her grandpa. Think yours are a little too big to do that, but they certainly do help in other ways! Again, great pictures!
Sharyn,
I love hearing about your granddaughter helping her grandpa. Those memories are so precious; for you and your husband and for her.
Yes, Steve is thrilled to be zoom-zooming again; men don’t like to be separated from their beloved cars for very long!
As a member of the Brotherhood of New Hippers, I have had Steve on my mind ever since I read about his bone fracture. I am relieved to know that he is going in the right direction and can get out there and Zoom-Zoom! You know that I am a huge fan of your photography. Just have to comment about your photo of your two grandsons sitting in the driveway. It was another case of a picture being worth a thousand words. It is wonderful that they will grow up close together and becoming close friends.
Fred,
Meagan actually took that photo. It’s a good one!
I love the Brotherhood of New Hippers description. Makes it sounds like a very cool group to be a part of. 🙂
So much good news in this post! Steve is so funny and I love that he lets you take pictures and share them! I hope you enjoy your sister and BIL immensely while they are with you! How fun!
I hope the former-Florida Smiths have all their household stuff in the house at this point (although I’m going to be really impressed if it’s where it needs to be in there). I admire them so much for their obvious joy and love and adventurous spirits!
I’ve lived within 2 hours of my parents (and my husband’s family) my entire my life and most of that within 20 minutes.. My boys have definitely gone much further from us but the older one now lives about 50 minutes from us and that is lovely. My younger one is 16 hours away (by car) but he’s working his way back “home” as his job transfers him. Another couple of years or so and I’m hoping he’ll be within 2 hours!
April is zoom-zooming by! It’s hard to catch my breath sometimes with how fast time is moving. I have to remind myself to “be still”.
Suzanne,
How lovely to have lived that close to both sets of parents for so long. And here’s hoping your younger son continues to zoom-zoom his way back toward you.
Yes, I am thankful that Steve is not only funny but lets me share pictures of him being goofy. Makes it twice as fun!
Yay for healing bones! What wonderful news. And what a joy to have family nearby. For the last 5 years, I have lived very close to my sister. My husband and I are upstairs, and she and her husband are downstairs! We all bought a house together and love sharing our lives and our living space.
Robin,
Healing bones, indeed. We are grateful.
What a great living arrangement–upstairs and downstairs in the best possible way. I have lived with my sister when we were both married adults; it was a treasured time.
The farthest I have lived from family is when I lived in Tampa and my parents, brothers, SIL, nephew and nieces all lived in Missouri. My closest family now is my parents whose nursing home is about 15-20 minutes away. From 1981-1998, I lived between 90 minutes and two hours from my parents.
Hopefully by now, 9:22 ET, the big moving truck has arrived for Nathan and Meagan. I can imagine how hard it has been for them not having the majority of their possessions and Nathan needing to work. Especially with 4 kids!
April has been pretty non-eventful for me, knock on wood! I had thought about going to Houston this weekend to see my niece’s master’s recital but decided that was a long way to drive just for a couple days at most. Fortunately she will record it so I can watch afterwards.
Glad to hear Steve is back driving. I’ve had a couple times in the last 5 years, when I was sidelined from driving – once when I slipped on ice and fractured my kneecap and the second when I had foot surgery. It was not a fun time!
Enjoy your time with Debbie and Randy.
Phyllis,
Being sidelined from driving is definitely no fun. Sounds like you can relate well to where Steve has been. There’s nothing quite like getting behind the wheel of a car after being away from it for a while.
Yes, the moving truck has arrived and now there’s the fun part of getting everything put away. They have really done well with a sort of extended transition; they hadn’t slept in their own bed for over a month!
I live in North Carolina- my family live in Pennsylvania.
The farthest I have lived away from them is in Sydney Australia for two years . Also did a Med Cruise when I was in the military. I’ve not lived near family any of my adult life, I can’t imagine living as close as y’all do.
Barbara-Jo,
Australia is definitely a long way from Pennsylvania. I know you must have been so glad when you finally came back to see the States and got to see everyone again!
I had to look up what a Med Cruise was. Sounds like you’ve seen a lot of interesting places in your life!
Good to hear that Steve is able to zoom zoom now. Love that he is so good natured and goofy at times. We recently were at the orthopedist for xrays of my husband. He also was given some too large shorts but they were not as nice as Steves. They were bright blue interfacing type fabric that I am sure get thrown away. He would never have allowed me to take a photo but they were comical.
We have family both near, far and in between. We don’t see them often enough. The farthest are 1800 miles, the nearest half a block (and sadly we see them the least). Just had a nice 3 hour overnight trip to see a lot of my husbands family at a memorial, and were also able to have dinner with my niece. Double blessings.
April has been up and down with business and the weather. May looks to be much busier especially the first couple weeks, but will love the business as it is mostly to see family.
Patti,
It’s true. Doctor’s offices don’t really concentrate much on style, do they? 🙂
I’ve always thought that memorial services were the worst and best of times. Sad to say goodbye to a loved one mixed with joy at getting to see people you don’t often see.
Enjoy all the busyness of May!
So grateful that Steve is healing. What a huge sigh of relief for you all. My heart is so filled with joy for you. Being the mother of an only child I am blessed that she and her family have always lived in our town. Recently, however, they moved next door. We are so grateful. I love having my 2 grandsons next door, who still run over just for a hug!!!
Marjie
Marjie,
What a joy to have neighbors who give and get hugs! Not many people can say that. I know you absolutely love it.
All great news!! Such a fun week ahead for everyone! So glad Steve is well on his way. The grands look happy, im sure they will adjust well with family all around.
Lesley,
Yep, lots of adjustments for the grands (and their parents) but they are settling in well; it is a huge help to them emotionally to finally of all of their belongings arrive. Now they can really start to feel like they are home.
I sure hope Steve got to keep the shorts. It’ll be a great addition to both his day to day wardrobe and his “make people laugh” wardrobe.
When I first got married 30 years ago(been divorced since 2007 when I finally really realized how much he abused me) his job was in Birmingham Alabama. At that point both sets of parents were in Iowa and Minnesota. I was in Israel for six weeks in 1989.
In MN now because we moved here 20 years ago and the mental health care here is good.
and my 24. Year old daughter doesn’t speak to me
Purple Sushi,
I’m afraid Steve had to leave those beautiful shorts behind. Oh well! 🙂
It sounds like your life has been full of many hardships and difficult transitions. I’m sorry for the struggles you have faced and continue to face.
Kudos to you for pursuing mental health care. So many people ignore what they are feeling and facing and continue in a downward spiral without any help to hold them steady. Prayers for healing between you and your daughter; that kind of distance hurts so much. Many hugs!
I’m so glad that Steve is now zooming around with a cane! He should without any kind of implement soon.
Other than our daughter and grandson who live a mile from us, the next closest is our son and his wife, who live about 4 hours away in Atlanta. The rest of our family is way over on the west coast. The furthest we’ve lived from family is when we lived in Germany many years ago. We didn’t see any family for nearly two years, and this was way before current technology was a thing. We did live at Ft Lewis for about 9 months, which was only a couple hours from family, but most of our time has been at our near the east coast.
Our month has been fairly restful! I hope that continues into May until school is out at the end of the month.
Gayle,
Not seeing any family for two years must have been so difficult! I know that first reunion after coming home must have been amazing.
Steve is definitely looking forward to being implement-free. Right now he is transitioning back and forth between cane and walker because the cane tires him more. We’ll be so thankful when this chapter is in our rear view mirror.
That’s GREAT!! Steve is up and about and zooming!!! Family is everything!!! Randy and Debbie coming for a visit is awesome! Tell them I said hello. I’m so glad the truck is coming. I’m sure it hasn’t been easy without all their stuff. Kids toys and all. Thanks for sharing. I enjoy keeping up with you all. Have a great visit. Love to all, Catherine.
Catherine,
Good to hear from you! Yes, the truck’s arrival was a very big moment in the life of Nathan’s family. They were without their stuff for a whole month!
Glad you continue to keep up. Hugs to you and your family.
Hooray for driving and moving trucks and family visits!
The farthest I’ve ever lived from my immediate family was when I lived in Nürnberg, Germany, and my parents lived in a small town in Arkansas about an hour from Memphis, TN. I did have friends from my hometown living a few towns away in Germany, and my cousin lived in Belgium at the same time.
My daughter and son-in-law live in the same county we do, but at about the farthest-possible-away point. We’re about a 20-25 minute drive apart. That’s all of my immediate family – my parents are dead, and I have no siblings – so when I say my family is small… it’s SMALL. Our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are for four people. My mom had no siblings, and my dad only has one brother still alive. I do have cousins, but none of them live near us – most are about a day’s drive from here. I’m so envious of people who have large families. But every time I start feeling sorry for myself, I remember there are others who don’t have a spouse and/or a child, so I count my blessings (albeit on one hand!!!). 🙂
April has flown. Heck – this whole YEAR has flown! The older I get, the faster time goes…
Stefanie,
So glad you’ve been blessed with three dear family members but can understand how you must long sometimes for the big noisy crowd at the holiday feasts. I love that you’re still counting your blessings though–whether on one hand or two! 🙂
I’ve always been slightly jealous of you and all the opportunities for travel that you’ve had. Such a great thing to get to see so many places.
Can’t wait to see all of you! 🙂
So happy to see Steve’s on trend shorts and smiles in the Miata. Long awaited, post surgery zooms are the best!
I’m so glad Nathan and Meagan will finally get their truck there tonight. I sure admire their smiles and ability to make the best of a very frustrating situation.
Ok then, see you tomorrow evening–yay!
Love, Deb
Deb,
Seems funny to be replying to your comment when you are just in the next room. So wonderful to have you and your hubby here in our very own house.
First, so happy about the great news of Steve’s recovery!
We are loving this full time RV life and spending most of our time in Florida but we do miss our Pennsylvania family.
This morning we are waking up in Savannah which is the first stop in our travel back to PA! Three weeks in Lancaster to visit my sister and her family including our grown niece and nephew who have settled in the Philadelphia area. After that we head back to western PA staying just outside of Grove City to visit Clover, Adam, Marshall and their families plus my aunts, uncles, cousins and anyone else we can fit in two weeks!
That will begin our summer mainly in Amana, Iowa but also including stays in Kansas, Arizona. Colorado, Utah and ending up in Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Balloon Fiesta! We will then head back to Florida in October.
We enjoy weekly video chats with my sister’s family to keep us up to date. As much as I hate it, thank goodness for Facebook! Having Messenger Group chats make it easier to stay in touch with everyone.
Praying Steve’s recovery continues and hoping that moving truck arrives soon!
Ginny,
Oooh, the Balloon Fiesta sounds absolutely fabulous. Steve and I were in NM a few years ago and I absolutely fell in love with that state. Enjoy that event and all the other wonderful things you have on your schedule this summer.
You’re right, FB (with all its drawbacks) is very helpful in keeping up with friends and family. But nothing like seeing them all in real life–enjoy your PA time!
Glad to read all the good news! This is the farthest I’ve ever lived from my family. I am really hoping that our weather is going to warm up soon since I am anxious to get to work in the yard. I think the ground might still be frozen.
Cindy,
Ick. Frozen ground is not a good thought for it being almost May. Surely your warmer temps are coming soon!