It had to happen sooner or later

I made it 2 years and 3 days without falling. Thursday, April 8th, I fell in my garden. I'm not sure what happened, or I might have prevented it. We're laying out the garden, so it is a minefield of string and stakes. Luckily, I didn't fall on the stakes that are marking the beds we are putting it. But, I did fall on my left elbow which poked into my ribs pretty good. I broke 3 ribs once, so I know that they are not broken, but anyone who has injured their ribs will tell you it's no fun at all. You ribs are connected to everything you do, including rolling over in bed while you sleep, or try to.

With all the 1000s of times I lost my balance and recovered and thought I might fall going up and down steps, climbing on ladders, and so on, it surprised me to just take a regular fall. At first I thought I was relieved that it had finally happened, but then I realized I had to think about not falling for the rest of my life, oh well.

If you have not had a stroke, you probably don't realize what it is like to live with one. I'm explaining this, not complaining. Since my stroke 2 years ago, I've had 6 or 7 moments where I forgot for a few seconds that I had a stroke. I have to think about every step, every curb, holding things, my balance. etc. In the beginning I described it as walking around with a cement bag on your shoulders, ever-present and adding o the difficulty of all tasks. Well, life has gotten easier, the cement bag may be gone sometimes, but the stroke is still ever-present. When I think about it, or it bothers me, or I can't do something as easily as I could before, I simply remember I am alive. That seems to be enough.