Hi everyone. Thank you so much for your support and prayers. Suzie is doing well after surgery, well, at least until I talked her into going out yesterday. Her first trip outside the house was fun. She saw some friends, got some frozen custard and had a good time, until . . .

I talked her into a ride in the country to see if there were any pretty leaves still on the trees. Driving in nature is one of our favorite past times. Then I took a shortcut. I know. You can see this coming a mile away but I didn’t.

It seems I found the bumpiest road in middle Tennessee. It was lined on the right side by a fence and tree line that cast long shadows across the road which made seeing the bumps and avoiding them nearly impossible. It was like bump camo.

Note to self: when good intentions meet inertia, inertia always wins.

My shortcut pretty well ended our pleasant outing. It was back (slowly) to the house and a full dose of pain meds. She woke up enough to watch a bit of TV and snack a little. Her appetite was gone. As was my caregiving confidence.

Setbacks are a part of life. Even those you cause yourself. Or in Suzie’s case, ones I caused herself. You can’t be perfect. You can’t find perfect people to love. Pain happens. More love is required.

Suzie has reassured me that she has forgiven me this morning. She did not take the opportunity to remind me it’s not the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. There’s a list. It involves a Jeep and an old Land Cruiser. 4×4 fever was involved. Thankfully she kept it out of the papers. She barely mentioned it this morning.

You can be perfect or persistent. My option is obvious.

Love smooths the bumps in the road. Even if love sometimes causes them in the first place. Science shows your pain tolerance goes up just by having someone you love within view. Even if the person you love is me. Yesterday it might have been more of a necessity than a blessing.

I, on the other hand, just get blessings. Which is what I’m trying to be today.

Thanks again for the prayers.