Legacy Writing 365:270

Since I mentioned the Renaissance Festival in Tuesday’s post about “dragon eggs,” I thought I’d share another memory of a different year when we went to the Renaissance Festival. We’ve gone with Lynne several times. One year Tom and I went and tried to meet up with Amy and Richard, but we never seemed to be in the same place at the same time. Then in 2008, when Debby was here on a visit in late fall–after a hard year emotionally for all of us–we decided the Renaissance Festival would be a fun diversion. So Tom, Debby, Lindsey, Rhonda, and I took off on a gorgeous, sunny Sunday to enjoy the costumes, the jousting, the corn on the cob, and lots of people watching and crystal shopping.

It was exactly the kind of relaxing day we hoped for, and I remember at one point, when everyone was winding down, that I hurried up a hill to see what new event was about to start. And it struck me that I was moving pain free. For an entire year, I’d struggled with nerve and muscle pain caused by a herniated disc and two fractured vertebrae. I’d gone to physical therapy, learned a lot of new ways to move and to develop core strength, and taken lots of medication. The pain had been such a constant that I had to stop letting it dominate my life. I guess the improvement was so gradual that I didn’t know it was really gone until I realized that while everyone else was thinking it was time to leave, my body was all, LET’S GO HAVE MORE FUN!

Four years later, when I get an occasional backache, I’m grateful all over again for the cessation of that pain. Chronic pain can make you CRAZY. And I remember that with all the help from friends and family, the compassion, and the medical care I received, it was Jeff F who took the time to give me good information and advice about how to stop the pain from making me live a life of fear. I will always be grateful to him for that.

So that was a great day. Also: FOX!