Three Milestones

Milestone   \ˈmī(-ə)l-ˌstōn\

An important event, as in a person's career, the history of a nation, or the advancement of knowledge in a field; a turning point.

Today was a biggy!

My dad was the baby of his family, as I am, and when he passed away a few years ago, his brother Gerald was the one remaining sibling left out of four.  Two girls and two boys from Utah. What I couldn’t figure out for the longest time was how my dad and my uncle could come from the same family.  A picture of them together could have easily illustrated the word opposite in Merriam-Websters Dictionary.  But after teaching a while and having siblings of former students, you start to realize that in most families, siblings that are similar are rare, but it still makes you go…huh?  I have nothing but good memories of my uncle and to be honest, I do not remember that we spent an over abundance of time with he and my Aunt Ella, even though they lived right down the street from us where I grew up in Independence.  I am sure his son Mack and his daughter Barb may take exception to that view of their dad at times, but then mine is one of a gentle man of few words with the ability to fashion a block of wood into a beautifully turned bowl.  As a kid, that amazed me and actually still to this day.  I remember a few Christmas’ where our families got together to eat and sing carols that later blurred into Broadway tunes.  My Uncle Gerald passed away this morning at the age of 101+ and set a milestone for longevity in our family, but at the same time ending that generation of my dad’s family from Utah.

A milestone of sorts was set today as we met for the first time with Miki’s physical therapist.  It seems as though a high number of the people that have lined up to help care for Miki have been picked to fit with this journey.  And Gail just raised the percentage.  As Miki struggled to talk in that tired airy voice she gets, explaining the path that got her here, Gail’s energy almost became infectious.  She made me want to be successful too in doing Miki’s exercises!  I refrained, but she held my attention as she described ways Miki can begin to work on her “drop foot,” brought on by pressure from the mass in her sacrum on a nerve that services her right leg.  This was a long time in coming, but other successes had to pave the way for this opportunity her foot has been waiting for.  GO RIGHT FOOT, GO!  She gave us hope and that is usually followed by a lot of hard work.  GO MIKI, GO!

The third milestone today has to do with Miki’s “tree house.”  The city approved Miki’s dream of being in the trees, which lead to making it a safe place in the trees.  Safe as in The Three Little Pigs safe.  They didn’t want this piece of “playground equipment” to tumble over in a good breeze.  So structural engineers were suggested and we found Joe, a one-man show with his shingle out on Main Street, downtown Blue Springs.  But how do you communicate your 55 year old wife’s desire for a fort, 14 feet off the ground to a stranger without mentioning words like disorder, senility, or just crazy?  With a brief background, Joe was on board and said he would make some sketches to satisfy the city, so a final approval could be given to break ground.  We got those “sealed” sketches today and lets just say that structural engineers make better money than teachers.  I like Joe and he did well for me broadsiding him out of the blue.  He said this was a good break from the normal stuff he does.  This good news lead to the purchase of 4 – 16 foot, 8 x 8 treated posts that will support this dream of Miki’s in our backyard.  Now I know you just read the numbers representing the size of the posts purchased, but know that these are like small trees without limbs.  They are things that would make you do a double take seeing them being hauled down the highway.  They are the item in the lumberyard that is in the corner where most folks don’t go that makes the guy helping you say, “Now what are you using these for again?”  Whoever buys our house someday most likely will need to have a little eccentricity in their lives as evidently we do.

We had some milestones in our life today.  My Uncle Gerald’s struggle to want to be here was silenced today, as what he was longing for was realized.  I hope he is greeted by my mom and dad along with a family reunion to end all reunions.  I also advanced my knowledge today from our engineered drawings and learned I should have made a different career choice, financially speaking.  And we are at a turning point with Miki’s foot, as we welcome Gail to the healing team and her foot finally begins its journey back to full functionality after a brief time off.  Big Day!

My Zen from Home:  I was thinking just now that there should be a word for milestones that are little…like mini-stones.  It seems we tend to notice just the big markers in life…births, deaths, birthdays that end in “0’s.”  I look at Miki each day and see a mini-stone in her energy level or we talk about what feels differently in her breathing that I cannot see that is a mini-stone.  The big things are great, don’t get me wrong, but it seems like without the mini-stones, there would be no milestones.

Mini-stone...getting the lumber into the backyard through the gate without
scratching the car.

Milestone...getting Miki on the posts without her getting scratched!