“Blow, blow thou winter wind…” –As You Like It

We are experiencing our first bout of winter weather here in the Northeast. And it freaked me out.

The final snowstorm of last winter caused my downfall—literally. I slipped on the ice outside of my apartment building and haven’t been right since. [I know, those that know me are saying “E, you ain’t never been right.”] I tore my meniscus and my ACL, severely bruised the ligaments on both sides of my left knee and had cartilage floating around in there. Other than that, it was all good. [Wish I could have figured out how to load one of the images from my MRI on here—that would have been a hoot to share.] I would have preferred to break a bone—that heals eventually.

My knee is still a bit of a mess. Guess this is what living with a torn ACL will be like. They repaired all of the other damage, but the ACL is a way more complicated procedure with a more intense recovery period. You’re like totally incapacitated. Since I live alone, it wasn’t really feasible. And as the surgeon so nicely pointed out to me, I’m not a dancer or an athlete. Well, there goes my dream of being a Rockette….

So at about 2PM the rain turned into snow and I anxiously watched from my window….. I had to go out tonight—I made a commitment to usher at Players Club, the theatre I am involved with. The current production is a blast, so if you live anywhere near Swarthmore, Pa go check out IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE—A RADIO PLAY.

Let me tell you, I was a nervous wreck walking to my car. I could feel my heart pounding and my breathing getting faster….. I was on my way to the theatre that night too. I came home after the intermission ‘cause I was worried about things freezing. I hate not being able to give my full commitment to something; I hate still limping some days. I hate that my knee forecasts changes in the weather for days before they happen; that watching snowfall now fills me with panic. I hate living this way.

I also hate that I have to bring my mother back to winter weather after 36 years of living in temperate climes. I feel awful that she’ll probably be housebound from January to March. But, I have no choice. In this economy, I can’t give up a good job to move someplace where the job market sucks big time. All I can do is try to make whatever apartment we wind up in as cozy as possible. And act like going out in the snow doesn’t freak me out.

Wonder if snow shoes go with “office casual?”