An unhappy anniversary
Joel being evacuated in Peru
It was a year ago today that I had a freak accident in the Peruvian Andes. For no good reason, I slipped just a bit on a modest decline while hiking, and when my left leg braced to arrest the fall, I managed to snap my quadricep tendon, which runs from the pelvis to the top of the knee. Talk about a buzz kill, not to mention a trip kill!
It has been a long year since that 2024 “Tax Day Catastrophe.” I am mostly recovered, engaged in many activities, the knee is 80 to 85% healed, though I’m not sure if it will ever return to 100%.
I have to be grateful that, in the very twilight of what is generously considered to be “middle age,“ this has been the most impactful setback I’ve experienced. Needless to say, there are hundreds of millions of people, many of whom that are far younger than I, that have dealt with much worse.
In another vein, I am grateful that this misfortune is well behind me, and I have returned to a normal slate of exercise, travel, etc. When you are incapacitated, as I was for months on end, things you completely took for granted, such as going to a concert, putting garbage cans on the curb, or walking to the mailbox at the top of the street become nearly insurmountable tasks.
Gratitude and perspective sometimes go hand-in-hand. In my case, regarding this accident, now that the worst is behind me, I can be grateful I’ve made a return to normalcy. But there are other examples when a bit of perspective, tempered by time, can yield deep gratitude. Think of a person or a couple who you might’ve found difficult to deal with, maybe irksome or problematic on a day-to-day basis.
If they leave your orbit, or you leave theirs, there’s a chance you can look back on the relationship with some fondness. Perhaps they had good qualities which were muted by odd personality traits, maybe they were helpful or instructive in whatever endeavor you were involved in. Maybe, looking at the big picture, ultimately you were grateful to know them. Even if, in the day-to-day interactions, that didn’t seem possible.
