"Two Men Contemplating the Moon" by Caspar David Friedrich
So, in my life of daily non-adventures, I get asked this question more or less than you might think.
I have had multiple head traumas, one factor in this transformed migraine mishagas.
The truly weird part is I can never remember all of them when it's medically relevant. So, I'm writing them down here for three reasons:
-so I'm more likely to remember
-so I can see how that and the genetics and the hormones and the meningitis are all really in my life and part of the thing from which I am determined to rise again.
-I'm not being flip, but I am trying to employ some humor to help me take my situation in a forward-looking direction with the power of mental leverage!
-1963 - car accident - no seat belts; rear-ended by an 18-wheeler on the Bay Parkway? Can't tell you street names to save my life. The state was NY.
-1975 - college dorm, leaning back against the bed side of closet, speaker up on wall was loose. Comes down and knocks me out, barely missing my eye. I come to, crying blood, seeing through blood, and very maturely go off running screamingdown the hallway.
-1977 - First star wars... New automatic garage door opener - I tried to make it in time before closing hour, honest! Who wants to be clunked by that!
-1979 - Arizona - the boys make me set the rock climbing expedition up Mt. Lemon's pace so that it wouldn't be too hard for a lil girly. Bright sun shining down; me being macho so as not to let down my entire gender, while negotiating a particularly difficult hand/foothold, I finally - I thought - got it just right and lifted myself with all my might into a giant overhang. As the blood was pouring into my mouth, the boys wanted to carry me back down, but there was no way. We'd ALL fall down and go boom. So, they spotted me... one in back and one in front, and somehow we made it back. Concussion, no hospital. Radio.
1982 - "Please get me the 'blank' file out of that cabinet."
"Sure - I'll be right back with it."
Only thing was that the file was in the bottom drawer of a forward-opening file cabinet, whose top drawer hinge had, unbeknownst to me (or anyone, so they say) er... broken, so that when I opened the bottom drawer, the whole top landed on my head and knocked me out cold.
1984 - Fell into the closet. Fell out of the car. Turned out to be - really? Spinal meningitis and month long stay in hospital with people in space suits reaching, reaching toward me for.... 5 lumbar punctures later... took a year to feel mostly 'right' again, 2 years to outgrow the wheat allergy I developed as a result...25 years for my toenails to grow in right, and we'll see how long until its slumbering after effects completely leave my body... probably when I do too, so I hear. Leave a deposit with the monkey, and I'll play you a tune.
1987 - Car accident, sitting at a red light, a mostly oblivious person, changes from an exit-only into my lane and rams into me, so hard that the car - and me, btw, are bounced back and forth off of it and the car in front several times.
1988 - Car accident, sitting at a red light, a mostly oblivious person, changes from an exit-only into my lane and rams into me, so hard that the car - and me, btw, are bounced back and forth off of it and the car in front several times. Sound familiar? It was - two whiplashes for the price of one. Unfortunately, this time I saw it coming... and first thing I thought of after hitting my head on the pre-airbag steering wheel was.... do I have any teeth left in my mouth? I had to check, actually.
1990's - I KNOW I'm missing something(s) here... Edit function is useful!
2000 - Fell in a ceramic bath/shower and hit my head. Really does make a 'Thwack!' sound after all. Who knew?
2005 - Fell down the stairs. Don't want to joke about it either.
And that is my cheery tale of woah! I'm happy I can write a bit nowadays. I've always wanted to, and not much else I seem to be up to. This, at least, I can do here and there, at those good moments, and don't have to enter the world of standing, wherein lurks vertigo, dizziness, and flashing lights.