Thursday, August 10, 2017

Morning in the city

I went out early this morning to get the man a neck brace. His back is improving slowly, but now his neck is giving him hell, as he's been using it to stabilize his spine for the last two weeks and some. The heating pad has migrated from under his back to under his neck, so a neck brace seemed to be in order. He is now dozing with his neck immobilized. Before that, he walked to the bathroom and back without bracing against the walls much. He said he felt as if he was a misshapen C, but in fact his posture was straight and tall. It meant his back was holding him up without unbearable pain. I took it as a promise.


It felt peaceful strolling the city in the early morning. It's a beautiful day, not too warm, not in the least bit humid, the light falling at an angle just so. The man at the medical supply store was a bodhisattva, showing me the pros and cons of different braces, letting me know that if I needed it, they could deliver whatever else I might require. I don't know what it was about him. He just seemed so calm, so grounded and kind. It was impossible to think in a catastrophic way in his presence. I left feeling as if everything will be okay, I just have to give it time.


Photos:
1. Barnard College, my alma mater. Those are the windows of the English department on the fourth floor. I knew it well. I was an English/Writing and Geography/Cartography double major. Such a long time ago, now. And yet, a blink.
2. Pomander Walk is a hidden Tudor-style village right on 94th Street on the Upper West Side. I lived in this city for decades before I even knew it was there.

9 comments:

  1. There ARE angels among us. I absolutely believe that.

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  2. Glad to read he is doing better.

    Linda

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  3. I'm glad he's doing better and can walk without holding on to the walls.

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  4. I'm glad he is slowly improving. I'm glad he has you.

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  5. I see a pain doctor about once a week. He explained the reasons for pain moving to different parts of the body. One of the reasons is you will alway notice the worst pain first. It's like how you notice a dump truck driving by when you have the dishwasher going. The dump truck is louder and gets most of our attention. The secondary pain could have been there all along but because the dump truck was so loud he didn't notice it.
    The other is pain from disalignment He has been in excruciating pain and in order to get around he has to move his body in a different way and now it's no longer in proper alignment.
    You probably know all of this! I hope he keeps getting better.

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  6. Glad he is improving. How interesting your double majors are, especially cartography! I was a New Yorker for years and didn't know about Pomander Walk either. What a gem!
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  7. Well, didn't we demand that he get better??? Yes , we did, and we are continuing our demand! What a beautiful little surprise of a street in the city. How lovely it must be to live there.

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  8. I know what you mean about how you felt with that brace man. Some people have such a calming, comforting presence. Sounds like your husband is still making progress. It may look like it's sideways instead of straight ahead, but it will be okay.

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  9. Pomander Walk! I remember it. I lived in the most charming apartment on the second floor of a brownstone on 90th between the park and Columbus. It was also probably the tiniest apartment in NYC, so I got out and did a lot of walking in the neighborhood. I like to think that you and I crossed paths many times.

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