SPARE PARTS

I have been pretty lucky with my health thus far.  Most of my aches and pains are due to my previous life of horseback riding and downhill skiing.  There have been a few spills and falls that did cause doctor visits, hospitalization and a few operations, but thank goodness for the invention of replacement parts.  I have had my knee worked on, a new hip and a reverse shoulder replacement.  So you could call me Robot Girl.  

The airports love me as it gives those people in uniforms that just stand around, something to do.  Seems I always get in the wrong line that doesn’t have the X-ray machine.  Being unprepared for the process, shoes come off and I didn’t bring any socks of course, having the only guard available frisking me and announcing to the entire world, “I am going to touch you here and here, do you want to go into a special room for my exam?”........”No thank you!”  So this does help out with the airline employment department.

One nice thing after replacement surgery is you get to park in the handicap zone, and your certificate is usually good for 6 months.  I remember one time it was a cold winter, parking lots were icy and I was just recently off my crutches.  So I very carefully got out of my car, and walked into a strip mall to pick up a few things.  One of the sales ladies was going into the same store, I guess after her lunch break.  She saw me getting out of my car and walk w/o any device for my “handicap” status.  She yelled at me for using a parking space when someone in need should be using it.  I don’t think I, personally, have ever yelled at someone who got out of a handicap parking space and accused them of cheating.  But you have all kinds in this world, don’t you?

Another nice thing after replacement surgery is you don’t have to do anything for at least a few weeks, depending on the seriousness of the operation.  With my shoulder, lifting loads of laundry was dangerous, and with my arm in a sling, couldn’t do dishes, no sweeping, making beds, and cooking with heavy pans was difficult.  I couldn’t even clean up dog poop or cat litter boxes.  In fact, my husband got so used to it, he does it all the time now.  All surgery patients need this special time to watch others do their job.  It’s comforting.

So during your recuperation you can enjoy the many books that have been sitting on the shelf waiting for you to devour them.  I could still text and work the computer keyboard, send emails, watch TV and have my cats and dogs on my bed to keep me company.  This covalescent thing is the best part.

It is actually amazing what orthopedic surgeons can do nowadays with technology.  I am so grateful that I was able to have these inventions become part of my body.  I never take it for granted, however, as I have continued to do my therapeutic exercises daily even though I was told it wasn’t necessary after a period of time.  You need to keep them moving or who knows if they might rust.  Special types of exercises are of the utmost importance in keeping this body in top form after going to all this work to fix it.  I read somewhere it is similar to the wear on a car tire.  It seems obvious that a tire can withstand a lot of mileage with a sensible and careful driver at the wheel.  However, that same tire may wear out after only a few miles when a race car driver is behind the wheel

MARRIAGE

Marriage?  Not for everyone, but I’ve been married most of my life, so yes, I think you could call this my passion.  If it’s successful, it’s the best thing in the world, and I am pretty sure mine is one of the happy ones.

It does seem as though this is almost passe’ nowadays doesn’t it?  Forty-five percent of marriages end in divorce; 10 percent of couples separate but do not divorce. Perhaps it’s the independence of women that seemed to take a high priority during the women’s liberation movement.  Although not all, (as there are some women who do stay home and work their butts off) but many of us decided to work outside the home for either the need of two incomes, or wanting that extra money to have all those niceties for our home and children.  And I was one of them.  Not saying this is good or bad, but nonetheless circumstances have changed quite a bit since I was young.

Most women of my parents’ generation stayed home and worked pretty damn hard raising those children.  Home cooked meals, no cleaning lady, lots of laundry because children didn’t have 40 outfits to pick from each day.  I remember my mother always cleaning, and our meals were ready as the whole family sat down to dinner.  Convenience food was almost non-existent.  I guess I took all this for granted until I became a pre-teen, then we were taught to pitch in and even had chores with an allowance.  As I grew into my late teenage years, I paid rent to my parents for staying in their home. This taught me the value of making my own money as I matured into adulthood.  

I grew up in the 50’s and stayed home until I was married.  I met my husband at 19 and my parents insisted I wait until 21 to get hitched.  For some reason they thought at this age, I would suddenly know about booze and sex.  Didn’t leave home and get an apartment, as I was in college and I only had a part time job.  Didn’t travel, didn’t live with any men, and didn’t have a chance to party with the girls at the local pub.  But it was the life I chose and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.  I was very lucky to have found my soulmate as not many can say that if they married young.  We both grew up together, and had our share of ups and downs, but it worked out and it has now been 55 years with my best friend.  

Most of our friends have been on several marriages so we are kind of the odd couple.  And really can’t say what our success has been because we have had our problems just like all other couples.  But we have learned to cope with each others’ faults.  I really think many couples give up too easily and don’t try to work things out.  Of course, there are those who just plain married the wrong person and can’t get out fast enough.  So who’s to say which way is better, sticking it out, or moving on.  

As far as my views on marriage, I was fortunate.  However, if I was married to a man who made my days unbearable, I’d be out faster than a hot knife through butter!  I wouldn’t put up with that unhappiness as life is way too short to not enjoy it.  So I can understand why marriage is passe’, but sometimes having that certificate makes you try just a little harder.  You might find each other’s faults will be duplicated with another partner, so you just keep trying until you get it right.  There is not the perfect person, but every once in awhile you do find that someone to share your life with, and that is the wonderful part of this journey.

ENJOYING LIFE

It’s been 76 years for this body to be moving, seeing, feeling and loving.  There are days when I have backaches, sleepless nights, and no energy, but thankfully those are few.  I am very lucky to have a devoted husband, family, friends and many animals to treasure in our beautiful home.  So I guess Purplelady’s passion for today is just ‘life’!  I try to live in the present as Eckhart Tolle states in his book, The Power of Now.  I do not dwell on the past, as i have had my share of unhappy memories.  I don’t want to think too much into the future as there might not be many of those.  But I do love to think of my present and how much enjoyment I am having with my life

At this point, we are now getting ready to downsize.  We have tried this avenue before but evidently it was unsuccessful as we are at it again.  We now have to think of what is ahead and just how much work we can handle as the years progress, so are moving to a smaller home.  But I don’t like to get too much into this future thing and just enjoy the process of gathering all the stuff we have collected over the years.  Boy, that sure isn’t at the top of my list for fun, but when it is done, I will be on top of the world.  We have things that our parents gave us, we have photos from our many vacations that only we will enjoy, we have clothes we’ve saved just in case we might take up golf, camping or hiking again some day, and we have junk!  So this is the time to de-clutter our lives.  In the process, I hope to feel cleansed and born again, as this will be a new adventure for us.

So why do I call myself ‘purplelady’?  Well, first of all I LOVE purple.  And if you think about it, it is in between red and blue on the color wheel.  Red is when you are hot to trot, full of too much energy and possibly aggression persists.  Blue is calm, collected, but really does not have any pizzazz.  But purple, on the other hand, is right in the middle, perfection to me.  In metaphysics, purple connects with the crown chakra.  In healing, purple is good for emotional problems combining the calm stability of blue and the fierce energy of red.  If you visualize a rainbow, at the far end of the spectrum is purple.  So I have linked on to this creative and healing color as it connotates only goodness.

Today is a good day for me as I start my blog.  I only slept 6 hours, but that is actually total satisfaction whereas some days are much less.  I’ve had my morning java, done my exercises, fed my animals, and getting ready for my breakfast. Who knows what great things lie ahead of this new day.  How about you?  Enjoy your day, enjoy nature and all its greenery, and enjoy your health, both emotional and physical.  And most of all enjoy life.