Our grand plan was to get in a day at the beach (possibly two) and to go camping in the lush, green north of Israel in between the days that I was teaching "Dancing in English" for the municipality's "the kids have been in the house too long, and I need a break" program. And I was looking forward to it all, even the teaching, since the kids give me such good energy and feedback. And that's how the break started - I taught on Sunday, and I started reorganizing and cleaning various things around the house, a large part of my To Do for the break. That evening, we went to help some very dear friends move into their new apartment. These are those friends that would do anything to help us (and have done just about anything to help us), and I'm just crazy in love with them and blessed beyond words that they're in my life. So, we go and load up the car and head towards the new apartment. We are in this traffic circle, fairly close to the new place, and we slow down because the car in front of us is waiting for a child to cross on the crosswalk. Sounds logical, right? Well, the guy behind us did not learn this simple rule of logic in driving school/life/whatever, and he slammed into the back of us. Luckily for us, Yagel is a quick reactor, and he engaged the breaks in time to keep us from slamming into the car in front and possibly the child crossing the street.
Now, what happened here is that I felt an immediate headache since my head had slammed into the seat. I also felt that warm pain creeping into my lower back from the injury that I have been treating for almost a year now. And I was pissed. No, no, no, no, no! I have been working SO hard to strengthen my back and to feel better, all for some asshole whose head was and is stuck up his ass to ruin? We pulled over, and I got out of the car and got a little mouthy. And you know what the guy said? (Not "I'm sorry," that's for sure.) He said, "It's all going to be okay." Oh yeah? You, sir, have no idea what you've ruined. Then, the nausea and the dizziness settled in and the pain started throbbing more intensely. I started having trouble speaking in Hebrew, and I got a little confused. So, off to the ER we went.
The ER was a long, obnoxious wait, but it really wasn't so bad. Yagel had to go to a private clinic, since his insurance wouldn't pay for him to go to the ER, so his saint of a brother who came to rescue us dropped my friend and me off at the ER and continued on to the clinic with Yagel. Soon after, our second friend made it to the hospital to be with us, worried sick that she had caused all of this mess by asking us to help them move. So not the case. She brought such good energy with her that I was able to laugh and cut up in spite of it all. Also, a quick text message to my dearest girlfriend here in Israel, and she was also there to put a smile on my face and keep me somewhat focused. Listen, if it's possible to party in the ER, we did. We made friends with others who were waiting, we laughed, we shared stories ("What brings you here tonight?"), and we got through the 5-6 hour wait. And somehow, I survived peeing in a cup in one of the nastiest bathrooms I've ever seen in my life:
My fancy bed and pee cup, all compliments of the great State of Israel.
The next few days were a blur of sleeping, trying to be productive (thesis work and house organization, both of which are quite challenging while discombobulated), and pain meds. I taught here and there, but mostly, I grumbled about how wasted my vacation was. Yagel, too. We were car-less, I was in pain, he was worried. It's a crappy way to spend your time off. But, it can also get crappier, which we soon learned.
Yagel, the prince that he is, did basically everything. Cooked, cleaned, took care of me, and took care of the car. He went to pick up the car from the garage on Wednesday morning. We thought that the damage to the car was just to the body, but as he left the garage to come home, he realized that the engine and gears were not working properly, causing the car to sputter and jump like a frog. As he was returning to the garage (he hadn't made it very far), another impatient "no-driving-son-of-a-bitch" (thanks, Dad, for the expression!) rear-ended him, making for two accidents on the same part of the car within 72 hours. Right? I hear all you gasping and saying, "That can't be true!" Well, friends, it is, indeed. Two accidents. Totaled car (we think - we're waiting for the estimator to come tomorrow). And a lot of frustration.
But, here's the grand conclusion to our no-good, very bad break. Although it was not at all what we wanted, and although there are some consequences to what happened (like not having a car and being in pain), we have each other. And we have some really awesome friends. And we did go out a few times, laugh our asses off, and experience a lot of silly things together. We cooked a lot. We grew together. And we rested. We raised some hell, and we watched a lot of our favorite TV show. All things that we can be thankful for, that we can enjoy. This silver lining has put a smile on my face and helped me to feel satisfied with these past two weeks. Studying will get done, thesis work will resume and progress, and we will continue to live and love every day that we have, hopefully with less worries about what did not get done.
As for now, I'm going to have another cup of coffee and go snuggle my man and my dog. And be content with what I have. Until next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment