My Motorcycle Injuries

The page from my 2013 desk calendar.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Today marks the calendar date of the motorcycle accident. It’s been four years now. I have been feeling well lately (fatigued, but well) and I’ve stayed busy with responsibilities in the ministry along...

Today is one of two anniversaries related to my motorcycle accident. The first one, today, is the day after Thanksgiving. It’s a bit ironic to me that we call it Black Friday. The second one is the calendar date from 2013 which is November 29 th . Neither day really means that much to me, but it does remind me of where I am today in comparison to then. I don’t really remember much reality from the first week and a half after the accident and the day of the accident itself is almost a complete blank, so there isn’t much for me to think back on regarding the actual day. One thing that stands out in my mind is the progress that I have made over the past four years. It has been a journey that will seemingly never end. I remember that, from the time that I first became coherent until many months after the accident, my wife would tell me that I had been injured badly but I would recover fully. She would tell me this over and again in the hospital. Day by day I would lie in bed, endure the pa...

                                                            Yikes! I had an appointment with my cardiologist today. I have to meet with him once a year to check on my heart health because of the stent in my aorta. The surgeon who actually performed the procedure after the accident moved his medical practice out of state a few months after I was released from the hospital. I was never coherent enough in the hospital to actually meet him there and I only met with him once after my time in the hospital. The cardiologist that I’ve been going to since then came highly recommended and I like him a lot. He’s a good physician and he is a very good communicator. I keep going back yearly because I’m told that the stent is close to my heart and it needs to be monitored for movement and leakage. Who knew that a trauma induced aortic rupture would caus...

I believe that I’m usually a fairly restrained individual. I prefer to resolve conflicts in a peaceful manner as opposed to shouting or arguing in some dramatic fashion. This is not to say that I don’t know how to stand up for what’s right, as I have often had to deal with people who challenged me regarding matters that involved doctrine, business, and general issues that included strong opinions and various actions. I believe that I can be a resolute and convincing person, whether dealing with issues that are personal or professional in nature, but I still prefer to avoid conflict whenever possible. I think that the art of diplomacy is slowly fading from our society. I’m also not someone who believes that physical confrontation can amount to any good. I try to avoid reacting to situations in any way that would provoke someone toward a fight (such as dealing with road rage type of drivers and obnoxious people in public places…know what I’m sayin’ ?). I do enjoy working out, and I do so...

One of the stranger things that I have had to deal with over the past few years has involved the issue of memory. To explain the bigger picture briefly; my memory skills are not exactly fantastic. It’s weird because I can remember certain things that go back to when I was a very young kid, but I have a difficult time remembering what I did just a few days ago. I always have to ask my wife about certain events in our lives because I’m not good at mental recall and she is. As a result of this, my thinking process doesn’t often involve going back to another time mentally when dealing with present-day events. You would think that this problem has to do with the aging process but no, I’ve pretty much been this way since I was a kid. It’s been a lifelong issue for me but at least it’s not senility, right? At this moment I can’t remember what I had for dinner last night. Yeah… Anyway, back to the issue concerning my memory over the past few years. There are times when I cannot get myself to l...

So…today is the day after Halloween and I’m at home. There was a certain thrill on the first day of November in years past because it meant that I could score on a supply of surplus candy that was on sale at the grocery store. I’m not very picky about candy except for the stuff that has coconut in it. I’m not certain why, but I hate the texture and taste of shredded coconut. In any case I won’t be going to the store today in order to buy the things necessary to engorge myself on candy tonight. I still believe that candy should replace vegetables as a major food group. The thing is that I’m not certain which I would choose to omit from my list of the motorcycle accident injuries if I were miraculously given the choice by God; the aftereffects of the broken bones or the diabetes. A fully functioning body or candy…hmm. I usually spend Wednesdays at home while working on a sermon for the evening service. Less than a year ago I had an “episode” while preaching at the pulpit in a church serv...