I Hurt!

About 20 years ago, I was complaining to my deceased husband, Bob, about my hands hurting. “I have trouble gripping the steering wheel for long periods of driving.” This is what he said, “I know what it is.” “What?” I asked. He said, “Arthritis.” I thought I was gonna die!! He accused me of getting old! This was not supposed to happen to me. I was a drug rep that sold a prescription drug for arthritis for them, not for me!

Little did I know I would be challenged by my back, shoulders, and other conditions that would sit me down during intervals of active pain. I’ve had visits by all of the above, but I gotta share my experience with my knees.

I was visiting Chicago, which always meant “Let’s go!” I mean those women in my blog’s feature picture don’t play when it comes to affirming their vitality. They don’t surrender to surgery, cancer, or anything. So, when I visit, I gotta be ready to hang. One evening, we were going to view a wide collection of African art. I climbed into my friend’s SUV. When it was time to get out, I couldn’t; my knees had locked up and said, “Where you going?” They thawed for that event, only to lock up again when I was dancing at a 70’s party. Here it comes, y’all…What?!

An x-ray in Bama revealed I had no cartilage in my knees. My cartilage had been deteriorating, and using the press at my neighborhood gym, sealed the coffin.. Word to the wise, do not do anything at a gym without guidance from staff or a trainer. Where you at, Sheila Agnew? (Trainer)

I couldn’t walk without pain, and I definitely could not DANCE, which really tore me up. I was spiraling downward, when Mary Felchlin, a yoga teacher picked me up.. She came to my house daily to teach me a practice that would enable me to move. “Bend at the knees, only rubber soles, and no heavy lifting. No jumping. When they swell, you sit down and lift them up.” I adhered to her dictates, did chair yoga postures, then standing, and in two months I was walking (slowly) in Amsterdam and came home to join an African dance class. What?!

I’m still walking, (no running), dancing, (no jumping), and knock-on-wood have had no surgery. However, would somebody please tell me why I can be sitting at home, minding my own business when out of the blue, BAM, here comes some obscure pain or ailment. No diagnosis., just a pain in your behind. I know why., it’s this season of ours but I’m here and so are you. I’m grateful, and I ain’t taking nothing for granted.; I’m jammin’ on!!

Joy Juice

How in the world did I consult yoga? My daily meditations allowed me to be open to a different modality for healing. That awareness cannot be diminshed with daily practice of gratitude and stillness. We got this.

“Love has the final word” Rickie Byars

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