I've been a bit lost in thought today. Just as well all my work was physical and needed no thinking about.
Four years ago yesterday I set out on my motorcycle for a short journey from my cheap hotel to a writing workshop. And my life changed permanently. I still can't remember the couple of hours leading up to that. All I can remember is a car coming at me and thinking "Oh God, this is gonna hurt". And oh God, did it ever!!
Yep. Yesterday was the four-year anniversary of the bike crash.
I regained most of the use of my arm. (I still can't get it behind my back properly but other than that there's not a lot I can't do). My ribs healed (except the one they removed) and don't hurt at all. I got back all the feeling in my right leg - which is pretty damn' good. I hated it being numb all the time. The plates in my shoulder work well. They ache of course. Every single day. But not in such a way as to cause any real problems. The bolt-heads stick out a bit and are excellent for making my young nieces go "Eww". *g* Unfortunately that also means I can't wear a rucksack over that shoulder, so I have to carry it only on my left shoulder.
The head injury was a nuisance. The blood-clot on my brain dissolved totally (eventually) but, unfortunately, not before doing some damage. I still have no short-term memory. And that's a real bastard. I have to work doubly, or triply, hard to force things into long-term memory. Often I don't bother. I just saw a crap movie?? No worries. I'll forget it by tomorrow. Read an awful story?? Gone without even trying. Of course it makes reading a book more complicated. Not to mention trying to watch a serial on TV. But if I like it enough I'll make the effort.
I was bloody lucky. I can walk and talk. My memory is affected but not my intelligence. I can use my arm. I can work. I can still write. (It's a little harder because I forget stuff - like plot points - if I don't write it down. I spend a fortune on notebooks!!)
And I'm alive. Most people who get knocked off their motorcycles and left for dead usually are dead.
And most important of all I discovered just how brilliant my friends were. And how much they truly were my friends. And I'm still very, very grateful for that.
Stay safe. Goodnight and may your God/s go with you.
Ze
