

It seemed as if everyone on earth was either asleep or shivering under blankets the other night.
Last Friday, I had major foot surgery on my left foot — so I can’t put any weight on my foot for six weeks. I went through this a little over a year ago, and it is not fun. I have a knee scooter and Savoy, my boyfriend and I, decided to stay with his mom, Carol while I recover from foot surgery. She’s 86 and has a few health issues. He’s been going to her house almost every day to help her out, like cook a meal or something.
We moved into Carol’s the night before my surgery. I had mixed feelings about the six-week move, but I understood why we were doing it. Plus, Carol’s house is much more “knee scooter friendly” than mine. I have a hard time with the crutches when I can’t put any weight on my foot at all, although I can do it. Sort of.
This meant moving Guinness the Cat, my 17-year-old cat who has moved so many times with me over the years. I’ve had him since he was six months old and my daughter was in middle school. She’s now 31.
I have my small room so that I can put my foot up here, and my computers are set up in the living room. Carol is 86 and sweet but used to doing everything her way, and I get that. She insisted that my boyfriend Savoy take her to the store even though the roads were icy and a snow and ice storm had begun. She said that there’s so much food in her fridge, but she can’t find anything she wants to eat right away. When she said that, I attempted not to cringe a little bit.
There’s lots of food in the fridge because my boyfriend bought it all, and he’s going to use it to cook and prepare healthy meals for us. Yes for me too, because I used to eat a lot more junk food than I do now.
When I open the fridge and see it filled with food, I know we’re not hungry or homeless. I know we’ll be okay. There’s security in that fridge filled with food and I love my boyfriend for making sure that happens and that there’s even clean water because he hooked up a special water filter for the six weeks we’ll be here. And maybe he’ll leave it there for Carol if she doesn’t mind it.
They made it back from the store adventure, though Savoy had to push the motorized wheelchair through the slushy ice and snow because he couldn’t let her walk in it and possibly fall.
I logged on to work on Sunday at 6:00 pm. I love my computer space where my work computer and PC sit side-by-side, but I already miss the privacy I had at our place. Savoy let me have the living room and went into the other room to watch TV. Now I’m kind of right in the middle of everything, like when I worked in-house so I shouldn’t mind it. I guess I just was spoiled, but it’s only for a few weeks. I managed to keep my leg up on a stool with wheels on it. Not too bad.
But at around 10:15 pm suddenly our power went out. Lights out, dark. the computer went dead, and I had to text my work colleague and let her know what was up. We kept hoping the lights and electricity would return, but it did not. And it was 22 degrees. Luckily we had plenty of blankets. We had no choice but to bundle up the best we could.
When I awoke at around 5:30am, it was freezing, and still no electricity. I shivered and fixed the pillows by my foot that had to be propped up somehow, cuddled with Guinness the cat who lay next to me and listened to the silence of the darkness, knowing that at least we had blankets and food and water.
We will be okay.
By Evalyn Baron
On January 19, 2024
Sending healing warmth your way!