Brighter Days

Judging from the avalanche of supportive calls, texts and comments my last post generated, I must have sounded alarmingly blue!  In truth I was feeling pretty glum and am so grateful for the collective pick-me-up you all sent.  Physician friends emailed to see if we needed a second opinion, one friend sent uplifting quotes from Shakespeare (followed by a less poetic reminder that we are “doing epic shit” and should stay the course), others sent leads on RV repair shops and several girlfriends offered to buy us varying alcoholic remedies.  A friend in DC offered to buy me a keg.  The outpouring of sentiment was even better than a keg – though I can’t believe I just wrote that! Thanks to all of you – we are so grateful for the virtual hug.

Today is a brighter day.  Ava and I are currently in route to San Francisco having cleared her last post-op appointments.  Monday kicked off with a slow, treacherous drive from Big Sky to Bozeman marking our 26^th day in Montana.  We were both glad to have Big Sky in the rear-view mirror, but our slow roll through the snowy Gallatin Canyon was a beautiful one, a reminder that we will be back someday to enjoy the natural beauty (and I daresay the ski slopes) of Big Sky country once more.  Big Sky Resort was actually developed by my grandfather and Chet Huntley (a newscaster of the David Brinkley era) back in the 60’s.  My mom and her brothers spent their early 20’s in Big Sky so it has a special place in their hearts.  And now, for better or worse, it has a special place in our hearts too!  (see the picture of our girls standing next to the ski run “Mr. Ed” named after my grandfather) Eventually the epic ski wreck of 2020 will be a source of amusement and most of what we will remember about this trip is spending time with my mom, Greg and my sister’s family, dogsledding, skiing with a variety of friends and taking a break from Moby.

Ava’s post-op appointments all went well.  The ENT removed the splints from her nose.  I will spare you the details minus one… the splints were 2.5 inches long.  I kid you not.  The nurse told me I would be shocked when they came out – speechless was more like it.  Poor kid.  I am not sure what was worse, breaking her nose or having giant plastic spacers in her nose for a week.  The upside is that her nose is now more or less back in its original place – and better yet – she can breathe through it.  Her ortho appointment was also a good one.  Our surgeon seemed satisfied with the X-rays and with Ava’s progress.  He also reinforced that this is the worst patella break he has seen (impressive for a guy who works on the US Ski Team) and that we absolutely can not move the leg for 4 more weeks.  Screw this up and we lose part or all of that patella.  Noted.

Dan and Hazel have also made progress on Moby.  Dan, ever the talented and persistent engineer, finally solved our power problems after 20+ hours of troubleshooting.  He traced it all back to a failed solenoid valve.  I would like to think I have similar patience and mechanical skills, but let’s be honest, I wouldn’t recognize a solenoid valve if it bit me on the nose.  Would you?  Somehow, he bypassed the solenoid and got power back to Moby which allowed him to pull the slides in and get out of Reno.  He and Hazel headed to Salinas California where I found a mechanic willing to work on Moby this week.  Troy (the mechanic) started working on our broken water lines yesterday.  He has repaired 3 lines so far and still going…

While Moby is undergoing his own surgery, Dan and Hazel fled to San Francisco.  They spent the day yesterday watching sea lions on the wharf and making a religious pilgrimage to Ghirardelli Chocolate, events they will have to repeat tomorrow for the benefit of Ava!  They also managed to squeeze in a trip to Pinnacles National Park over the weekend.  Pinnacles will be the one park that Ava and I miss.  Sounds like a good excuse for a mother/daughter trip in the future!

To while away the recuperation days, I read.  I’ve read thousands of pages on this trip (a subject for another day) but one of the books I read last week is worth noting here.  The book is called “Maid,” a memoir written by a single mom who struggled through low wage jobs and financial peril all without a safety net.  The book was a notable reminder that our current challenges are trivial.  Ava’s injuries will heal, and Moby is an object.  Objects can be fixed, replaced, or done without.   We are fortunate that we have the resources to overcome these hurdles and a support network that has offered help every step of the way.  As my grandfather used to say, “everything is Bermudaful!”  A reminder that we are fortunate indeed.