Anniversaries

This picture was taken yesterday on the summit of Welcome Pass. I'm happy to say I'm still hiking, and I'm still able to be an active Senior, even though it has been ten years to the day since the skydiving accident (the link goes to a post I wrote a year ago about how it happened) that put it all in doubt.

I feel very fortunate not to have many limitations from the accident, since I lost an artery down my right leg and have some nerve damage to boot, not to mention two permanent pieces of hardware. Nobody expected me to be able to walk very far once I healed up (including my doctor), but what can I say? I do have a fairly high level of pain tolerance, but still I believe that I was fortunate to have had a great surgeon who happened to be on call on a Sunday afternoon.

No one can say what makes one person able to continue to improve and another continues to decline after a major injury. I suspect that one day I'll be experiencing the other end of the fulcrum. That's the way of things. But today I am celebrating ten years from the day I woke up to find a broken body and an unknown future. Today, I'm doing everything I ever wanted to do, and then some.

And wonder of wonders, a new family member has been born today! My niece Allison (Norma Jean's daughter) gave birth this morning to Lexie, her little 5 lb 5 oz bundle of joy! Her full name is Alexandra Petra Stewart, brought into the world by C-section a month or so early, but apparently just fine. I am not sure when I'll get to see her, since her mother will be surrounded by plenty of other family and friends, not to mention she lives on the other side of the country.

This is a day to look back at the past ten years and give thanks for such a fantastic journey, and say hello to a precious new life!!
:-)