Letters from North
America
Well
…..now I’ve done
it…..finally tore up my
knee so bad it’s going
to have to be replaced.
The pain of bone on bone
has just gotten too much
for me to bear, so it’s
off to the hospital for
me. I have put this off
for entirely too long.
I tore up my knees years
ago when I was a cop in
Houston, but in those
days you just healed up
so fast that nothing
seemed to stop you from
one day to the next.
About thirty years ago,
I had my left one fixed
and have put off
thinking about doing
anything to the right
one for all of these
years. The therapy for
the first one was hard
enough and I really
didn’t want to go
through that again
unless I really had to.
Now I really have to.
Last week or so I took a
trip to Philadelphia
which involved trains,
planes and cars a lot of
walking, too much as it
appears. I came back
limping and had a
miserable weekend
waiting for the doctor
to see me last Monday.
I’m thinking he could
just clean it out and
all would be fine, but
that’s not going to be
the case. Nope, he said
mine looked worse than
his and he was leaving
that afternoon to go and
have his fixed.
I’m sure having some
terminal illness takes
the wind out of your
sails, but having my
knee replaced certainly
set me back a notch or
two. First of all, it
means I have to finally
give up my car. I love
my car, but it sits
really low to the ground
and is difficult to get
in and out of. A
practice that I am sure
has not helped me over
these past years. I have
a theory about getting
older and driving. I
believe that driving a
smaller, faster car
makes you more alert
than if you drive one of
these large floating
boat vehicles. At least
this is my story and I’m
sticking to it. But the
time has come for me to
give it up and buy
something a little more
sensible as much as I
hate to do so. I suppose
the next step is to take
away my drivers license
in another fifteen or
twenty years. You can
just gas me when that
happens. As it stands
now, I’m hobbling around
much like Walter Brennan
used to do on the “Real
McCoy’s” while waiting
to see when they will
take me for surgery. I’m
sure the operation is
different than it was
thirty years ago, but I
just don’t like
hospitals or being
operated on, I don’t
suppose anyone does.
This whole exercise has
gotten me to wondering
why we try to put off
the effects of aging for
as long as we do. For
example, I know that I
need hearing aids, but
like a lot of men my
age; I keep putting off
buying some. I keep
thinking my hearing will
get better, even though
I really know it won’t.
Not being able to hear
really well is difficult
but not impossible. You
can get by and fake a
lot of it, but you do
look like an idiot
sometimes when someone
asks you a question and
you answer wrong and
they have to repeat it
just to see if you are
crazy or what. Poor
hearing causes you to
nod and smile in a lot
of the wrong places.
Here you are in the
middle of a fairly
positive conversation,
you’re catching most of
the conversation and
being agreeable then you
start to lose the volume
and you smile and say
something like… “Yeah,
I’ll go along with
that.” You know you’ve
screwed up and they
repeat the question
which could be something
along the lines of ….
“Did you hear the news
about the guy trying to
poison the New York City
water supply?” Worse is
when they don’t repeat
the question and just
walk away. You have to
chase them down to
figure out what you
missed.
I will say I’m getting a
lot of attention and
limping does allow for
you to board the plane
first without guilt. I
won’t use a wheelchair
at any time in the near
future if I can help it.
The cane is ok…I like
canes…not w a walker…a
cane. As for the sports
car, well, we’ll just
have to see how the knee
heals and then take
another look at what I
could drive. I’ll bet
there is something I can
fit into.
Remember growing older
is not an option but
growing up is.
