Currently it’s 11:00 at night, and I’m in Nashville with my friend Bonnie and her family. Bonnie’s daughter-in-law and my friend Mallory is turning 30 tomorrow–well, in an hour–so we’re here celebrating. This morning I got up at 8:30 to pack and get ready for all this. I even did a set of my knee rehab exercises before Bonnie picked me up at 11:00. Y’all, Bonnie’s got this cool little convertible, a Volkswagen, and I normally love, love, love riding in it. However, things were a little cramped today, since we traveled with Bonnie’s grand-dog in the backseat, and then there was all our luggage.

Oh yeah, and I just had knee surgery.

The trip was about eight hours. Honestly, all that time in the car was rough on my leg. As a general rule, it feels restless, and it didn’t help today that I was scrunched up like a push-in accordion. That being said, Bonnie and I had plenty of time to talk, and I was even able to read and take a nap. Plus, we stopped a few times for fuel and food, which gave me a chance to stretch. Hell, we had lunch at IKEA in Memphis, and since the food court was in the middle of the freaking warehouse-sized store, I got my slow-cardio in for the day. Slow-cardio because I’m still walking like a one-legged pirate. And whereas I teased Bonnie about making a crippled limp all over God’s green earth for lunch, I probably needed it, since I ate chocolate cake for dessert.

This evening we hung out with Bonnie’s boys (one of whom is married to Mallory), Mallory, and Mallory’s parents. This morning I seriously considered backing out of trip. The whole getting ready process really wore me out. Plus, life has been a lot lately, and it’s taking everything I’ve got just to do my daily rehab exercises and–literally and figuratively–put one foot in front of the other. Anyway, everyone tonight was great. They didn’t ask a thing of me, just let me hang out and even do my rehab exercises in the middle of the living room. And–and, and, and–when I leaned on the handrail to their stairs and broke it, they didn’t even make a big deal about it. Rather, they simply wanted to know if I was okay (I was).

Mallory’s mom said, “I guess we’re not ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant anymore.”

Now it’s close to midnight, and we’re back at Bonnie’s son Tim’s house, which is up two flights of stairs. The good news is that I can actually go up and down them without “too” much trouble, and a week ago this wouldn’t have been the case. Earlier I was thinking of some of my other trips to Nashville in the last couple of years, and I know there were times I didn’t feel great then either–just having gotten over the flu or whatever. But I wouldn’t trade the memories of those trips for anything. My point is that despite my body’s current challenges, I’m glad I’m here. Sure, my chips are down, but there’s still life to live.

Now, in an effort to take care of myself, I’m going to get ready for bed.