Hello to friends, followers, and Dolly Friends!! I am so happy to be here with you today! I’m sure there are some of you out there who have noticed that the blog post is late this month. Yes, yes, it is. Those of you who know me know that being late is not something I do without an extremely good reason….so please bear with me while I write this blog. Usually I research something that is of interest to me and that I want to share with you. While I had started that research, I will save it for another time as I feel this is more important. So, let me give you a little back story…..
The week of Father’s Day, I noticed my left foot begin to swell and to turn a nasty shade of blue not to mention that walking was becoming difficult. This was an inconvenience I was not happy with. I slow down for very little and I thought just give it a few days rest and it would feel better. Not so. Begrudgingly I called the Ortho doctor in Kentucky and made and appointment for that week. X-rays were made and sure enough – I had a broken foot! How did I do this they asked. I had no idea. Didn’t it hurt they asked? It might have, but I probably paid little attention and kept on going. I wasn’t a lot of help. What were my options at this point? They suggested crutches, a cast, a boot. My first question was if there were any other ideas. Yep! That’s how I roll. So with a promise of keeping my foot elevated, ice and heat, and a brace they released me and instructed me to come back if it was still hurting in 4 weeks. Little did I know…
Little did I know that the Saturday morning before Father’s Day that my husband, the love of my life, would have a stroke. This was devastating because I was well aware of what the outcome could be and that our whole lives could be altered in just this brief moment. Time spent in the local emergency room, a helicopter life flight to a stroke unit in an Indiana hospital, several days in the hospital would be how the next days would play out. My mind kept telling me that I should be really shook up, but my heart was at peace with the situation this whole time. I believe God was at work on our behalf. We had a team of doctors and nurses that were second to none. The only bad thing to be said about this hospital stay was that the food was B A D!
Once later that night when all was quiet, I took to my phone and began to text friends and family of the news. All were so supportive. Now, you have to know that I am a very private person by nature. I don’t know why or where it comes from but that is a big part of my character. As I sat there watching my husband and praying for the restoration of his body, again, I’m still very calm. Bear in mind that I’m tired but calm. Doctors came in regularly letting us know what the next steps were and what tests would be used to determine the cause and the damages done.
As most of you already know, I have an Instagram account that I visit and post on daily. It brings me great joy to interact with what I lovingly term “my tribe” and those who are like-minded. Knowing how much I care about these people and that they care about me, I gave them a brief run down of what had happened. Again – not like me!! But somehow it felt good to share with those people. I was absolutely stunned at the number of messages and responses that came back within hours (and are still coming daily) asking about Mr BabyBoomerDolls and offering their support and prayers. Let me tell you that these are good people (friends) who will take the time to reach out to someone that they have never met face to face and support them with their prayers and friendship not just once but almost daily. They genuinely wanted to know how Mr BBD and I were doing. There were not a dozen or so or even a hundred messages. There were well over 1400 messages. It still makes my eyes leak to think about that. I read each of those messages to my husband and I think I answered them all. If I missed one, please forgive me – total oversight. Those messages caused us to smile and gave us strength and brought joy to our hearts. It often felt as though we had angels gathered around us and praying for us.
Yes, I am a woman of faith. I care not what your faith is or what you believe or put your faith/confidence in. I do, however, care about you as a person and a friend. Your beliefs are between you and your god, but your show of love and concern touched our hearts in a way that is almost indescribable . Reaching out and helping a fellow human in time of distress says that there is still good in the world no matter what the nightly news reports. You made a lasting impression that we have shared so many times with so many. Thank you!!
We left the hospital with lots of PT, OT, and speech therapy sessions set up for us locally. Some days we had two therapy sessions per day at the local hospital, not to mention the therapy we were doing at home on our own. We were very determined to do our part to help bring the skills that had been compromised by the stroke back. I am both thankful and proud to report that prayers were answered and Mr BBD is doing extremely well. He still tires easily, but the doctors say that is part of the healing process. Trying to ease back into daily life was sometimes a strain. But again, messages from those of you kept us encouraged.
Oftentimes, when the house was quiet, I found myself needing something “just for me.” I found that release in my doll collection. For me, there is joy in having those dolls in my hands working on them, repairing them, making them pretty. Sometimes it was no more than 20 minutes at a time, but it was like my very own therapy session. There was comfort there. It was just me and the dolls. I have always laughed and said that they know all my secrets. It is for sure that they do now! I have read many articles on therapy dolls. I have always been amazed by that process. I can say that holding those familiar little faces in my hands and straightening their clothing was definitely therapy for me. It was a time when I could do something that I greatly enjoy and that was familiar to me. It allowed what was to seep back in to the temporary state we were in and feel normal again.
Please bear with me for just a bit longer….obviously, I hadn’t done what I had promised the Ortho doctor I would do. Even though, I had made that promise faithfully, I couldn’t keep it because I was literally on my feet for weeks looking after my husband. So…I went back to the Ortho doctor last week. I walked out of that office with a boot on my left foot – sometimes I have to be slowed down whether I like it or not. My foot is getting better and looks like just a couple more weeks with “the boot” should put my foot back in good shape.
Last weekend we had family visiting from Virginia. To see my husband playing in the yard with our grandchildren was such a blessing! To hear him speak clearly is music to my ears. He has done very well and has amazed the doctors.
I told you this story not to “preach” to you, but to thank you for what you mean in our lives. To encourage you to continue to reach out with encouraging words to those who need encouragement. Stories such as this should not go untold. In our eyes, you were all a part of this story in some way or form. There are good people all around us and those who need our love and encouragement all around us, too. We may not know who they are, but they are there waiting for a smile or a kind word or deed.
Many thanks from Mr BabyBoomerDolls and myself. We are so proud to be a part of the doll collecting family. We appreciate each of you.
Hugs to you,
Lynn & Mr BBD
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