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Crash me outside
Thursday, August 26, 2021 at 11:01PM 
Soon it will be wheeled in for repairs
Seeing as my post about jumping was ignored on all seven continents, how 'bout let's try one about falling.
As in, my TG fell off his bike on Tuesday evening.
It was bad.
The pictures of him that I took to show the kids are so gruesome, I cannot share them with you.
You may get the picture when I tell you that, coming into the kitchen to start dinner, I discovered him standing at the sink, running the water, bloodied and battered pretty much from head to toe.
Especially head. Because he'd landed on it.
I fell off my bike, he said.
Then he turned around and went outside by the pool, leaving a trail of huge blood drops.
I was cleaning those up when I realized he was just standing out there, so I joined him.
What happened? I said.
I don't remember, he said.
I looked at the damage to his face and told him that for sure he would require stitches.
We'd better get you to the urgent care, I said.
TG ignored me and walked back into the kitchen, and from there, out into the garage.
I don't remember where it happened, he said.
It will come back to you, I said. Get in the car.
Is my bike here? he said, then walked around to the other side of the garage where he had parked it, confirming that it was.
It was ugly
I don't remember falling, he said. I don't remember anything.
Eventually he did remember a lot of things, both that night while we cooled our heels at urgent care for three-plus hours, and the next day.
Turns out that he had been coming up to a cross street which he would normally just cycle right on through, when a car approached from his left.
He slowed to accommodate the car's passing, and believes that he steered slightly to the left to go around the back of the moving car.
After that, it's a blank.
We went back to the scene on Wednesday, after taking him to see our doctor.
We loitered in the quiet street while pine cones plopped to the pavement from a towering loblolly standing sentinel.
If only that tree could talk.
There were no clues, no remnants of the carnage that had occurred twenty-two hours previously.
TG, after suffering the fall, promptly scraped himself off the street, put his hat back on his head, picked up his bike, got on, and pedaled home.
Only, he doesn't actually recall doing any of that.
I remember getting up, wondering what in the world I had done, he said. And then I remember pulling into the garage on my bike.
The thought of that scenario terrified me, so I pushed it out of my mind. So much could have gone wrong on that mile-long ride home.
Later -- much later -- at the urgent care, a chatty doctor put ten stitches in the area of TG's left eye.
The patient underwent a CT scan and submitted to various X-rays.
Nothing was broken, but a severely arthritic left shoulder was revealed. TG's bad shoulder. it was the one he'd landed on.
After an equally chatty nurse, plump and highly fragranced (I could smell her perfume even after we got home), had cleaned up TG's scrapes and lightly bandaged them, we were free to go.
We spoke of nothing else for several hours
Lexington Medical Center Urgent Care had been closed for two hours when a male nurse pushed TG to our car in a wheelchair.
I know which one is yours, he said. The Raven was the only vehicle in the parking lot.
Five minutes to home.
Audrey had come over earlier and fixed the supper that I was about to start making when the whole thing went down. Chicken stir-fry. Bird and Birds Eye.
We were grateful, because TG was ravenous and, before even getting out of his bloody clothes and taking a shower, he sat down to eat.
Afterward, he bathed gingerly and we re-dressed his wounds.
He stayed up super late so that he'd be super tired. Believe it or not, he said he slept pretty well that night.
I persuaded him to take it easy on Wednesday, and to let me take him to our doctor.
On Thursday, he was back at work. A fellow contractor and friend helped him in the morning; Audrey finished her cleaning job early and came to help him in the afternoon.
I picked up Dagny from school and, after a stop at Hobby Lobby for a spot of fall-decor shopping, took her to her mother as everyone was contemplating quittin' time.
TG was working steadily and said he'd been pleasantly surprised at how well he felt all day.
I will repeat what the doctor marveled at when, having read the CT scan results and found that TG had not broken his cheekbone (it looked as though he had) ... right here is a big, strong man.
Indeed he is. He will be seventy in January. He still works full time.
Keeps him out of trouble all of the time and off the golf course much of the time (although there are breakthrough golf outings often enough).
But not off his bike, which was a gift from his children and which he faithfully rides -- sans helmet and no, he has not changed his mind about that -- six days a week.
On the route that TG takes as he rides, he knows various folks to wave to.
The pine tree and its needles saw everything
Occasionally he stops and talks to someone, for one reason or another. Just being neighborly.
One gentleman on the course is frequently outside and when he is, always waves to TG.
On a recent day, he held up a large hand-lettered sign as TG barreled past. The sign read:
ONE
The next time TG passed his house, the man lifted a different sign:
TWO
On the third lap? You guessed it:
THREE
TG gave him a big thumbs-up.
When TG relayed this story to me, it was during the Olympics and I thought the man had been judging TG's style, speed, and technical prowess as he rode past. But no.
Turns out, you can just count on some people. And TG is one of them.
That's how he rolls.
And that is all for now except, just because I think you deserve it after the trauma of this story, here is a picture of baby Rhett.
Stay healthy, Papaw ... someday you may need to teach me how to ride a bike
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But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
II Corinthians 4:9-10
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Happy Friday :: Happy Weekend
Reader Comments (23)
I came back to comment on this post. I hope you got my previous comment on your last post.
I’m so sorry to hear of TG’s fall. It sounds like a very scary situation. I’m wondering if the car that he was waiting for did a quick stop and then TG ran his bicycle into the car and fell and the driver either didn’t notice or just drove off? I know when I’m walking, I’ve had similar situations where I’m walking behind a car and it suddenly stops on a dime. I hope he feels back to normal soon.
@Bijoux ... I think the very same thing! I think he grazed that car and it made him fly off the bike! I did not get any comments on my last post, haaaahhaaa ... I think it's been a decade (at least) since that has happened. xoxo
I did comment on your previous post, either same day or next day you published it. I’m wondering if others did the same and we were all sent to spam? I know it went through on this end because I waited to see the message that appears after.
@Bijoux ... Well that is distressing. I'm upset about it. But I can see spam comments and have the opportunity to approve them so I don't think that's it! Nothing like this has ever happened before. Until you commented on this post, I had not had a comment to approve since August 23rd. xoxo
I am sorry to hear about TG's accident, I know how frightening that must have been. I hope he's on the mend soon.
Rhett is absolutely adorable.
TG!!! What a scary situation. It sounds like he had a concussion too, with the memory loss. I don't want to think about that ride home either. God was watching over him. I'm glad he's doing ok.
And Rhett - such a little darling. He is a beautiful baby, those little fingers, those dark eyes. :) oxox!
I had to go and see your last post because I thought I must have missed it. I left a comment on it too - so where did they go?
@Jane ... yes it was terrifying! But he is feeling ever so much better today. His eye looks awful though and I just can't wait to go to church on Sunday and hear eight thousand times that he needs to duck when I swing at him *eye roll* ... haaaahaha xoxo yes our Rhett is really something.
@Mari ... Well I'm going to have to report this to Squarespace because it really bothers me. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Rhett's fingers are AMAZING ... he is always doing something cute with those little hands! So expressive! They are in Greenville for the weekend so I have not seen him since forever and I need to get my hands on him. xoxo
I did comment on your last post about falling, etc. I thought you wrote it excellently. Weird if it didn't come through. I thoroughly enjoyed the article about the painter on the Golden State Bridge though there is no way I could have done that work. I truly got what you were saying at the last part of it and am preparing a post for a few weeks done the road that might be similar.
Rhett is so adorable!! There is nothing like a sweet baby to show us life will go on!
Ouch with TG! Poor guy! Hoping he continues to recover!
betty
Sorry about TG.
Any chance you could slip in a picture of your tuxedo in a future update.
My tuxie boy is 12 today.
@betty ... well I am so sorry to have missed reading your comment! It is no doubt a glitch but I will report it. It seems that now, all of a sudden comments on that post are appearing. I am so glad you enjoyed the article by the GGB painter. I thought it was fascinating and sent it to TG to read too. What an amazing place that is. Erica said it is an overwhelming sight and experience to drive across it. The views!!!! Amazing. Love to Winslow! xoxo
@Claire ... Happy Birthday to your tuxie. My Sweetness will be three in October. I'll show a picture of her soon. xoxo
Oh no! I'm glad he wasn't seriously hurt! I do wish you could talk him into wearing a helmet though! It could have been so much worse! Little Rhett is absolutely adorable! I miss my little guys being babies! They grow so fast!
@Jeanette ... I know girl! Right? But I'm not going to be able to talk him into that. It's like I said in my post about jumping ... people are going to do what they're going to do; period. And they bear the responsibility for their own health and wellbeing. I am not responsible for my husband not killing himself on a bike. God forbid. But you are right that it could have been so much worse and I'm thankful that it wasn't. Little Rhett is cuter every DAY that he lives, if you can believe that. xoxo
Hi Jenny,
Sending prayers. Thank you for sharing the story, so we are able to pray for healing.
Thank you for sharing baby R. I needed to see a miracle after a very difficult week.
@Carla ... You're welcome, my friend. Praying for you as well. xoxo
Been 'Off-Blogging' so did not know.
Ohhhhhhhh mercy!
Could have been so much worse, but.....
Awwww, "Baby Rhett"! What a sweetie....
Mari-Nanci
@Mari-Nanci ... Thanks for dropping by, my friend! Yes it could have been lots worse and I am so thankful that he's mending so well. Like the doctor said, he's a big strong man! Baby Rhett is too sweet for words. xoxo
I'm so glad that this scary and painful event is over! Oh my goodness! I know it will be a while before all the soreness is gone... and the concern. I'm glad you were right there to get him to go for stitches...
@Gayla ... I'm glad I was there too. He is now, more than two weeks later, doing so well. Almost all the soreness is gone but he is still going to get more help for his arthritic shoulder. He was so fortunate that this was not worse. xoxo
A fall like that could take a lesser person out of this world!
I hope it doesn't cause a major flare-up in his shoulder.
@Judy ... Right you are! I hope not also. xoxo
Well, I just commented on the jumping post - I wonder if you'll get it? And now about the fall. This exact thing happened to Bob about 10 years ago. He was riding on a bike path in Denver and crashed though he doesn't remember exactly where or why. Did he run off the edge or did someone clip him when passing? He has no clue. Somehow, he picked himself up (he broke his helmet in the fall but better that than his head), and he biked home THROUGH THE CITY to the house we used to own there. He remembers not a thing about riding home or the route he took. Off to urgent care we went, and they sent him to the ER. Many scans and xrays later, they released him. Sounds like he and TG are both hard-headed!! But, tell TG he really should wear a helmet, though I know he won't listen to me. Meanwhile that little baby Rhett is adorable, and I'm happy to see another photo of him. He's growing so fast. It looks like he's reaching for me to pick him up....
@Barb ... I HAVE told him and he won't listen to me or you! Haaahaha I guess someone that stubborn deserves whatever they get. I am amazed that the same thing happened to Bob, with similar results! Broke his helmet! I wonder if it would not have been MUCH worse had he not been wearing one. Rhett is really something in person! Such a SWEET little guy! And blue eyes! We never saw that coming. He would LOVE for you to pick him up, haaaaha xoxo