Wow, what a happy day!
It has to do with Sweetpea but I need to explain her situation first.
I've been asked by PM about her and if she is coming to the burn. Not this year but hopefully next.
Me and Sweetpea have been together for ~18 years. We met in the army on a firing range (I know, huh!). We got married 14 years ago. 10 months later she was in a really bad accident with a truck slamming into her. Her neck was broken and multiple discs herniated. She had to wait three years for the corrective surgery to deal with the discs as our insurance (Kaiser!) wouldn't cover it and there was no way to afford it. In the meantime all kinds of things went from bad to worse in her neck. When we finally got blue cross she got the surgery. She had three vertebra in her neck fused and held together with a plate. During the surgery they found a bone spur growing inside one of those vertebra that was compressing her spinal cord by 40-50%. After he was done with the surgery the doctor told me about it and said he was stunned that she could even walk. I almost fainted. Knowing she was in so much more pain than she ever let on. I confirmed with her later and she just said she didn't want to be a complainer, that is was really bad but manageable (!!!). Even after the surgery her neck has never been right She is still on pain meds and will be for the rest of her life. ( I lost it for a few minutes there, because that's a long fucking time and just ain't fair to her!)
So now she has to rest in bed a majority of the time because holding her head up is difficult. She's not totally disabled but enough so as to limit her severely. Some days are good, most aren't. On the good days she sometimes manages to get up and out and drive herself to market or the post office. We don't travel together much. I'm doing recon this year to see conditions, volatile as they are year to year, in hopes that we can rent an RV next year to get her out of the house and back into the great outdoors. And back around people. High quality, friendly, loving people like 99.44% of everyone I've met on eplaya. She's been missing out on life for so long, she deserves her time in the sun.
That's Sweetpea and that's where she's at.
The happy part I mentioned at the top is actually a few parts. First, today she's feeling good. She's gonna go down to the post office to pick up the mail. She said she might go to Happy Panda to get some chinese food for dinner! Happy Panda = Happy Tummy, do the math
. She avreages getting out of the house just 2 or 3 times a month so when she's able to, it's a really happy day!
Next, she made up a list of what I need to bring as a guide. Sometimes I get so excited (Me?) that I grab the shiny bits and forget some important ones. After reading the list I told her it was amazing she did that without having read the survival guide (I read to her from the forums, a lot, she's learned a little from there...). She said "It's just like loading out for long field missions in the army, common sense."
Then, a bit later she told me she wants to make some bead jewelry (she used to love making it) that I could bring with me to give to friends from eplaya.
(Crap, lost it again but from happy this time...)
It just touched me so deeply that she wants to get out her crafty supplies and start making things again after so many years. To make things For You, eplayans, For You. I cant even describe how grateful to you I am. She has seen how happy this place and the coming burn has made me and it has made her happy too. I am not kidding, our relationship has grown closer since I got here. Sounds nutty but it's real, very very real and y'all need to know it.
I have tears running down both cheeks, happy and grateful tears. We're both happy, happier than in years. She's happy for me because she knows exactly how long I've wanted to burn. I'm happy for her simply because she's happy. That's good enough for me
!
Thank you eplayans. We appreciate it more than you will ever know.
Foxfur
PS If anyone has a similar situation, or even not too similar, don't hesitate to send me a PM or email. I can't promise anything beyond a shoulder to cry on or to wipe your tears but that's what we all need from time to time. Thanks for your shoulders.
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