Bone-on-bone

This lovely cactus blooms one day of the year and then as quick as it came, its gone. Luckily, I have a husband whose extremely attentive, who brought me outside to show me. He's good for that stuff.

As a few of you know, he will be getting his hip replaced sometime in the next months. It's bone-on-bone (try imagining that several times a day watching him move about). They'll be fitting him in whenever the VA has an opening. It might be Fall. No matter, my hubby just takes it all in stride. His cane has become his fifth appendage. He poked it in the fire a few months ago, melted it and had to buy a 3 pack of cane rubber ends. I couldn't even believe he found them.

Today, he was under his desert willow tree, weeding. The garden I was suppose to be caring for he'd gone back and redone much more beautifully. He quietly moves about changing things and never complaining. Then we go to the Dr. last week and the nurse asks him his pain level from 1-10 and he says, "Ten sounds about right." just as smoothly as if he'd said a one.

We even had fun that day wandering around the Albuquerque VA grounds, paths connect tree framed adobe buildings, between which are lush green empty areas, the kind you can imagine having a picnic on and benches where you can leave your room and take a book into the sun. We imagined being there and enjoying his new lease on life, some say its almost immediate. We talked of how nice everyone was and lunched at the same table as two young interns from elsewhere in the country.

As good as it was, we'd awakened at 4am and driving home in the afternoon we both were sleepy. Me driving.  I watched him sleep and wondered how I would do, taking care of him. He always takes care of me. He gets the mail, feeds the birds, gases up the car, takes care of the yard, visits the neighbors, does the dishes and picks up the coffee cups I leave all over (these last two I have just taken over recently and he hasn't argued.) He rarely asks for me to get him a drink so I started asking, every few hours and I'm usually late. I Swiffer now. I try to predict his next move, but he's fine. He just is fine.

I'll be leaving for my daughters wedding in a couple of weeks so a few of my girlfriends are lined up to come over and bother him like I do. When he and I realized he couldn't make the trip we were sad but mildly relieved. He wont say when he's worn out, but I see it. and then I think, bone-on-bone.