It’s been 10 days since my last post. My life is a whirlwind right now. It seems like every day there are 1000 things to do. I’m sure many people can empathize. It’s just all that much harder when you’re trying to zip around in a wheelchair. Actually it’s not even that. It’s this stupid “tone” in my legs. And the spasms. Transferring over to my wheelchair takes 1-2 minutes, whereas most paraplegics take about 10 seconds. Frustrating.
A lot of awesome stuff has been happening, too, though. So I really can’t complain!
Trip to NY
I mentioned before that I had been practicing with the wheelchair softball team. More specially, the Cubs, since the Cubs sponsor us. Last Thursday, 10 players, 2 coaches, and a cheering section consisting of Rebecca headed to the airport to fly to the “World Series” in Long Island, New York. They have a wheelchair softball field there. All the MLB-sponsored teams were invited. Those that made it were the Yankees, the Mets, the Red Sox, and us, the Cubs.
Apparently there was some sort of weather delay on Thursday. It was frustrating since it was 70s and sunny in both NY and Chicago. Storms in between caused first delays, then cancellations of something like 10 flights. And that was just on United. This created standby lists a mile long.
Long story short, we headed home late Thursday and came back to fly out Friday afternoon. The Mets were nice enough to hook us up with tickets to a game at Citi Field. Then we headed on to our hotel in Long Island.
This was earlier on in the game.
It got colder so we split a hot chocolate.
The event organizer was nice enough to rearrange the bracket so that we could play all our games on Saturday. It wasn’t perfect. He whispered to our coach that things would go smoother if we just won every game. Ha!
First game against the Mets. Up by 10 by the end of the 5th, so we won by virtue of the slaughter rule. I played right field. Not too good at fielding but got a couple hits.
Second game immediately afterwards. Tied after 7 innings. Tied after 8. After 9. After 10. 11. 12. 13… we won in the 14th. It was a pretty huge finish, too. I was on first and Tick-Tock was on 3rd. Justin was up - he’s a quad. Quads are the only ones allowed to bunt. So Justin bunted perfectly right down the first base line. Tick-Tocks rushes home. The first baseman ran in to get the ball, but since he was on the line, Justin collided into him, sending him flying onto his face! Meanwhile, Tick-Tock crosses home plate for the win. Cubs win!!!
We then got a break for food and to rest up for the final game for the championship. The Yankees were already out. The Mets and Red Sox both had one loss (to us), so they duked it out while we ate.
That’s Dan in the middle. He goes by Cornbread on the team for some illogical reason. He was crushing it. For the day he had 10 doubles and a triple and something like 18 RBIs. Crazy.
The Red Sox beat the Mets, so we played them (again) for the final game. We almost won by slaughter rule in the 5th. We ended up winning with something like 13-3 for the championship. Probably the only time I’ll ever see the Cubs win a World Series :)
I’m doing my best to hit there in the final game. Hard as heck.
We got a nice trophy for winning the thing and I somehow got Rookie of the Year. I think I must have been the only rookie or something.
Training
Training and therapy are coming along. I have been reluctant to sign up for that stair climb but after last night I think I’ll do it, even if I only make it up 20 or 30 floors. Last time I posted, 10 days ago, I had climbed 58 stairs for a new record. Two days later I tried again and only was able to get up 42. Pretty abysmal. I didn’t try again until last night, when I got up 112! Still a long way from 2,109 but it felt good to break 100. At the end my arms were more tired than my legs. Well, at least I think so. I can’t really feel it when my legs get tired. So that’s a plus.
Other than that, basically I’m just getting a tad stronger. It’s easier to tell by the week than the day at this point. I’m about 5.5 months post-injury. Cornbread told me it took him 2 years to get his left leg moving decently. He can now ride a regular bike. I would LOVE to do that again someday. Fingers crossed. I’d probably just end up in the hospital again if I tried right now.
Wedding
Rebecca and I are getting married in Kentucky in late October. We sent the save-the-dates just a few weeks ago and the invites have been systematically going out the last several days. We’re going to keep it small - just 50-60 folks. I think her immediate family and their spouses make up half that.
The planning certainly takes a lot of time. It seems like a lot of work for an event for ourselves. The whole process is bewildering to me. I’ve never been one to say, “Hey guys, I really want to ______ for my birthday this year!” So it feels weird to have an event where we will be the focus. But I’m sure it’ll be a great time. I just want the planning to be done so we can enjoy it.
Dear Lord, thank You for giving me the willpower to fight this fight (and fight it hard). Thank You for the healing You have given me so far. Please keep healing me. Thank You for always being there, even though it’s not always ways that I expect. Thank You for giving me so many gifts in life, even though so many of them are different from things I wanted. Please help me to better understand Your will. Help me to follow a path that will glorify You the most. Help me to do something good and right in this corrupt world. Let Your will, not mine, be done. In Jesus’ name, amen.
This is from the wall by the elevators on the 9th floor at the RIC, which is their prototype design for the new building they are… building.
If you aren’t very “religious,” I hope I don’t scare you off. It is true what the bible says about the meek and humble having an easier time finding God. I am much more of both now. It’s hard to be saved if you don’t feel like you need saving. I hope that instead of thinking, “That’s nice for him, but I’m different,” you ask questions. I hope you have a heart yearning to learn more and yearning to make this world better. Self-serving agendas do nothing for anyone, including the “self”.
Thanks,
Chip
No comments:
Post a Comment