I won’t be writing much over the next couple of weeks as I am recovering from hip replacement surgery that occurred a couple of days ago. I have plenty of time to write, but the meds I am on for pain are the very reason I should not write about something controversial. Dissenting is sober commitment.

This is several parts humble pie. Eleven years ago, after the divorce I decided to join a CrossFit gym. It was really inexpensive and a perfect way to compete with my slovenly self. After a year of workouts and improving my quality of health I got sloppy on my lifting technique and I shredded the labrum in the right hip. That led to the end of CrossFit. It also led to the slow walk of bone on bone arthritis. This past year my leg started to fly out to the right and my big toe on that foot started to curl from the consistent hammering it was taking from the flying or slicing to the right if one is a golfer.

I finally got placed into the schedule for surgery and I was able to come home the same day following the surgery. All I can say is wow. The second part of the humble pie is not being able to do things without assistance. I am currently using a walker to shuffle from the living room to the bathroom and back. My dogs have gotten used to me with the walker. They stand out of the way. They can tell I am in some pain and discomfort. I am completely depending on my youngest son and wife to help me when I’m too tired to lift myself up.

When I was younger, I used to do all of the tough jobs for my father as I had the shoulder and arm strength, he lost from a torn rotator cuffs. Now I am on the other end of this spectrum as my youngest son can just pick me up like a sack of potatoes. His large hands grab mine and up I go. We needed to move the reclining chair I am sitting in away from our shelf and wall. I reached out to grab his hands, and he just pulled the chair and me in it by the foot rest. It is incredibly humbling to see my son take my place as the strong one in the family.

I am blessed to be loved by my boys and my wife as I maneuver through this challenge. It is humbling to need help when most of my life I have been independent, or at least taking care of so many others including my wife and children at various times. It feels odd asking for assistance, but I am so thankful that when I do ask the help is right there. I am blessed. I am loved. and for me that is the greatest so it goes, that I could ask for.