Geez, Lori and Geoff…I cheated…my athleticism came with strong legs, gripping a horse. I rarely got bumped from the saddle and the times I did fall, I was never seriously injured. My horse took the brunt of battle wound while I sat on his back. My Hub was also a rugby player–broke his nose so bad during a match, but let a fellow player reset it for him. It was those 200+ jumps from an airplane and the hard repels from Blackhawks that did in his knee. By age 30 he had shards of bone aggravating the kneecap and yet he still logged and played rugby for another 5 years. Agree with Geoff on your ability to dig deep!
You’re fortunate, Charli – the back surgery sounds bad enough without adding a serious injury to it! How is your husband’s knee now? I have a friend who had his second knee surgery three years ago – and he’s 33 now! He doesn’t have the cool stories your husband does, though. I do firmly believe that if you’re going to have a messed-up body part, you at least ought to get a neat story out of it ;)
You put together some powerful prose, especially as you dig into yourself as you do. I experienced a small version of this when my rugby career ended at 39. I ripped my Achilles, took a year in rehab and did the self same injury on my return game. The specialist said I had a choice; more rehab and pain and risk permanent damage or rehab and pain and accept I wanted to play with my children. It was the most difficult and obvious decision of my life. I still miss the game, still think maybe and don’t regret my decision. It’s just another form of grief, isn’t it Lori? Another one onto which you need to graft more experiences to help cover the scar tissue. I truly admire the way you can be so much the observer in your own life. You’d make a freaky member of a jury… ;-)
That’s exactly where I’m coming from, Geoff! Once one of those spots is messed up, it just seems to beg for recurring injuries, and I guess we all eventually have to decide whether the sport is worth it. At some point it does come down to whether you want to extend a particular activity a bit longer and risk pain for the rest of your life. Sorry you didn’t at least get another season out of it, though – one game is just sad :(
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Geez, Lori and Geoff…I cheated…my athleticism came with strong legs, gripping a horse. I rarely got bumped from the saddle and the times I did fall, I was never seriously injured. My horse took the brunt of battle wound while I sat on his back. My Hub was also a rugby player–broke his nose so bad during a match, but let a fellow player reset it for him. It was those 200+ jumps from an airplane and the hard repels from Blackhawks that did in his knee. By age 30 he had shards of bone aggravating the kneecap and yet he still logged and played rugby for another 5 years. Agree with Geoff on your ability to dig deep!
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You’re fortunate, Charli – the back surgery sounds bad enough without adding a serious injury to it! How is your husband’s knee now? I have a friend who had his second knee surgery three years ago – and he’s 33 now! He doesn’t have the cool stories your husband does, though. I do firmly believe that if you’re going to have a messed-up body part, you at least ought to get a neat story out of it ;)
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You put together some powerful prose, especially as you dig into yourself as you do. I experienced a small version of this when my rugby career ended at 39. I ripped my Achilles, took a year in rehab and did the self same injury on my return game. The specialist said I had a choice; more rehab and pain and risk permanent damage or rehab and pain and accept I wanted to play with my children. It was the most difficult and obvious decision of my life. I still miss the game, still think maybe and don’t regret my decision. It’s just another form of grief, isn’t it Lori? Another one onto which you need to graft more experiences to help cover the scar tissue. I truly admire the way you can be so much the observer in your own life. You’d make a freaky member of a jury… ;-)
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That’s exactly where I’m coming from, Geoff! Once one of those spots is messed up, it just seems to beg for recurring injuries, and I guess we all eventually have to decide whether the sport is worth it. At some point it does come down to whether you want to extend a particular activity a bit longer and risk pain for the rest of your life. Sorry you didn’t at least get another season out of it, though – one game is just sad :(
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I was deeply pissed off at the time, I do remember and kept thinking of ways I could return but sense prevailed. Still a bummer, mind.
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