Rant #3,590: I Remember

A year ago yesterday, I re-tore my left leg's quad muscle, and 10 days later, I went under the knife for a second time, with absolutely no guarantees that this second surgery would work.

Due to my surgeon's expertise and my own positive attitude and work ethic, it worked, and while I will never have the flexibility I once had in my left leg, after what I endured, I look at my current situation as a miracle, and I have a lot to be thankful for.

Heck, all I did was open up a closet, and the contents of that closet--a heavy plastic dresser--fell on me, with the force re-tearing that part of my body.

Freak accidents sermed to follow me in 2024, as I tore the quad to begin with after I fell down exactly two stairs and my left knee went directly into a box of photo albums.

It was like I went into a brick walk with my knee, and the result was as one would expect.

Then even more recently, my prostate checked out OK--cancer-free--based on procedure results after I had a scare. 

And then I had a small piece of my scalp removed, again to make sure thst piece wasn't cancerous.

And I have gotten through all.of this with flying colors.

Like I said, I have a lot to be thankful for as we end 2024 and move into 2025.

I consider myself to be fortunate, very lucky, and very blessed.

I have successfully dodged a couple of bullets during the past few months, and while I am certainly not Superman, with bullets bouncing off my chest, I weathered several storms, and I came out OK.

Maybe I am simply lucky, in a weird sort of way, but at this stage of the game, I have to say I feel pretty good.

So please make me feel even better and read the next chapter of my novel.

Again, I wrote this five years ago during the beginning and height of the pandemic, during ome of the lowest mental times of my life, when both myself and my son were out of work due to circumstances way beyond our control.

I guess it was my way of keeping busy, even though between looking for work--for both of us--and taking care of my parents, I was actually busier than I ever was.

Believe me, that period was no vacation for me, and I continue to experience the reverberations, more than five years later.

So give this next chapter a read, and please let me know what you feel about it, positive or negative.

Thanks!

10

Abraham Lincoln Panim was home schooled, and he learned about the world from Mrs. Stottle. He learned the three R’s from her, and once he was able to read and write and do basic math, he progressed to social studies, English, foreign language, and he progressed very quickly.

And as he progressed with his learning, Mrs. Panim also progressed in her school, rising from a member of the teaching staff to a lead teacher, then to a guidance counselor, and finally, to the principal’s position.

Both Mrs. Panim and her son were fast learners, picking up things quickly, and Mrs. Stottle was more than happy to accommodate each one’s needs, even as she was herself getting a bit older.

Abraham Lincoln Panim was getting older, but he retained his rat-like features. Mrs. Stottle tried to get him to be more social, but even if they went outside to do some schoolwork, he often covered himself up with a scarf so nobody would see his face.

The boy always waited patiently for his mother to come home from school, and the two always ventured outside in the darkness, whether to get some fresh air or to get some exercise or just to talk.

If someone approached, Abraham Lincoln Panim would cover himself up with his scarf, just to make sure nobody stared at him. Even in the dark, his features, he felt, could still be seen.

The mother and son often talked when they were together in the evening when they went out for a stroll.

“Mom, whatever happened to daddy?” Abraham Lincoln Panim would often ask his mother.

She would always hesitate when he asked the question, trying to come up with a new answer every time the question was asked. But it all came down to the very same thing.

“My son, your father was a good man,” she would say. “I just think that he lost his way, and he will return home to us one day.”

And she would always add, “And he would be so proud of you!”

When Abraham Lincoln Panim was younger, that response sufficed, but as he got older, it didn’t do the trick anymore, but he let his mother say the same thing, because he felt it soothed her own soul.

Abraham Lincoln Panim believed that he knew why his father never came back home, and he knew the reason was him and the way he looked.

But he would never tell his mother that, because he felt it would make her sad. But he always asked the question, hoping that one day, maybe something would be said, something would come out of his mother’s mouth that would be new, something that he could understand.

Mrs. Panim stayed steadfast to her explanation, and something different never was spoken about her husband and Abraham Lincoln Panim’s dad.

But he still asked the question, hoping for a different answer that he never received.