Saturday, April 12, 2008

Sister Suzanne’s Birthday

Today is my sister Suzanne's birthday so I thought I might tell a little story about her.
Little sisters are generally pretty good to their older brothers but on more than one occasion mine went above and beyond.

Once, in particular, was when I was living in New Mexico and I had a motorcycle accident. I had ridden mine off a cliff, breaking my back, several ribs, and my collarbone. I was in pretty bad shape and Suzanne came out to take care of me. She was only about 15 at the time and I am sure my mother is the one who sent her, but she did not have to but came anyway.

I had just got out of the hospital and could move around but was in pain and wearing multiple contraptions to keep my back straight while it healed. Getting dressed was not possible as well as other inconveniences so Suzanne was there to help me get dressed, feed me and help me get around. She even went to work with me each day and helped me do my job. At the time that involved editing commercial reels and directing the news. I could not have done my job at the time without her help. Thankfully she is very smart and picked up quickly what I was trying to do and assisted me better than many of the people who get paid to do this kind of work. Since I had been away from work while I was in the hospital it was important to be able to work and earn my paycheck. I am sure that if not for her help I may have lost that job. And let us not forget the getting me dressed and fed part. I know I would have lost that job if I came to work hungry and in my underwear.

It was only a couple weeks of her life that she spent looking after me, but if not for her I know my recovery would have taken much longer. On my list of kind things people have done for me, this one still is very high on that list. Not only did she help me get better, she made the process a lot of fun too. We always have a great time and that was just the medicine needed to help me the most. She gave me happy memories of what could have been a painful point in my life.