At the end of 2023 I wrote on Caring Bridge: “I may post again when there is a major milestone, e.g. walking unaided…But that might be posted to my blog instead…” (unless I have a relapse, the Caring Bridge site will sit as is..so Blog it is)

I began walking short distances unaided a couple of months ago….twice a week and with a Physical Therapist beside me, holding onto the gait belt wrapped around my body.

Shelly and I started practicing here in the apartment a week or so ago. Recently we jettisoned the gait belt while inside the apartment and it progressed to what you can see in the short attached video.

While I don’t wear a yellow bracelet, I am a fall risk. (especially when you consider my lifelong klutziness…) I’m pretty careful…maybe too much so.

Therapists have pointed out that I need to have more confidence in my abilities, but I know what a broken hip could mean to a clumsy septuagenarian.

My gait is getting better as I try to focus on “heel-toe” and taking longer steps…but “high stepping” is a long ways away. (in the video you can see that I’m barely clearing the carpet.) Even with my walker, tall curbs are challenging.

Steps without handrails?

Forget it!!

(Heck…forget steps in general.)

When I was in the hospital for 38 days I often said “I’ve always been determined, but not all that disciplined.” I need to be more disciplined and dedicated, but the constant nerve pain and lack of stamina increase the challenges. {Being a contrarian sometimes isn’t the smartest thing…}

I’m a high pain threshold guy (i’ve had dentists from coasts to coasts tell me that), but the transverse myelitis pain is never below a 2or3. The spasms boost it by at least a factor of 2or3. The tightness around my knees and hips compounds things. (Sometimes it feels like I have braces around my lower half)

But I’m at the point that grinning and bearing it seems to be the answer, along with lots of gabapentin and some self-medicating with thc gummies and/or a vape pen.

Stamina, or the lack thereof, is maddening. I used to do 12 thousand steps a day and not think twice. Sometimes double that. Now 12 hundred steps wears me out.

I used to carry a watermelon in a bag under one arm and a bag of groceries in the other up the steps to our third floor apartment. Now I avoid steps. (Soon we’ll see if I can lift a watermelon…)

I used to dig in the dirt with a pitchfork and a spade in 5 4×4 boxes. Now loosening the soil with a hand tool in one has me needing a break.

The good friend who wrote is right: “The endurance will come over time & with repetition.”

So was Jimmy V: “Don’t give up…Don’t ever give up!!”

I’ve watched the video a few times, and I gotta tell you that it doesn’t feel as good as it looks!! I don’t feel like Tim Conway, but it feels awkward and janky.

And it feels GREAT!!

I passed it along earlier to a handful of people. The replies had me thinking/laughing/crying (tears of joy). {Jimmy V moments make life worth living.}

So do friends….and their support.

“That’s awesome! You have come a long way!”

“This is beautiful, Steve, even if it’s a shame that it’s so exhausting.”

“Oh man, I am smiling so big! This is incredible, Steve!!! Hard work is paying off! ????????????????????????”

“This is such a great step! Or should I say steps! Thanks for sharing. You go!”

“I am so impressed. I can’t imagine how much perseverance and hard work is behind all this. You are the MAN! And, way to go, Shelly!!” {this one from a cancer survivor with long term issues…it opened the flood gates}

“Very good…..wear a path in that carpet!!!????”

Not gonna list them all. They know who they are…and that I love them.

I’m grateful and lucky.

Nobody is gonna see me walking unaided for awhile(other than Shelly and the folks at the therapy gym).

When we leave The Abbey, you’ll probably see me on a walker. Maybe a cane. And with best caregiver ever!!! (am I a lucky old coot or what?! OkCupid was very good to me!!)

Unaided walking will be inside the apartment or at PT…and there will be a gait belt when I’m at Cox.

Swing by here and you can see for yourself!!

I’d love to show off for you…give you a hug…and hear your voice.

Be. Just Be.

Why is there a bromance?

From my perspective, Joe Jackson’s lyrics nail the romance between the media and Lane Kiffin, offensive coordinator of the Alabama football team:
“Is she really going out with him?
Cause if my eyes don’t deceive me,
There’s something going wrong around here…”

I just don’t get it. It’s a love affair that I find baffling. There is something going wrong around here.

Another lyric from the song: “They say that looks don’t count for much…” In the case of Lanie, the facts (historical and current) and logic don’t seem to “count for much.”

Late in the 1/11/16 championship game versus previously unbeaten Clemson, with the end result pretty much determined, unless the Tigers pulled off a couple of miracles, we witnessed the two talking heads standing in the booth spewing nonsense about Lane Kiffin “redeeming himself with this win.” Say WHAT?

1. The key play in the championship game was the perfectly executed onside kick. (This play was NOT called by the offensive coordinator.)
2. The next play that Nick Saban, the head coach, credited with making the difference was the 95 yard kickoff return that put them up by 12 mid-way through the 4th quarter. (Nope…not called by Lanie either.)
3. A couple of long pass plays were probably called by Kiffin…but they only worked because of total defensive breakdowns. In all honesty, if an old codger like me had been as wide open as O.J. Howard I would’ve scored on those plays. Clemson’s defense was a mess on some critical plays.
4. The Heisman trophy winner had 3 Tds on 36 carries for 158 yards. My Dad, who never-ever watches football, would know enough after watching Derrick Henry for 2 plays to say “give the ball to that guy again….and again.” You don’t have to be much of an offensive football genius to know what to do when you have that offensive line and a running back like that guy.

I don’t watch all that much football anymore, but I have seen several Alabama games each of the last few seasons for a couple of reason. (1) Let’s just call them personal reasons…some people in my life who root against them, and some who root for them. (2) The Crimson Tide keeps competing for and winning conference and national championships.

I’ll admit it. I don’t know that much about football. But I do know what the facts say about Kiffin. His record as a head coach is less than stellar. And as an offensive coordinator, the facts don’t support him having all that big an impact on Alabama’s offense statistically.

All the announcers (not just the two from the championship game) have probably forgotten more than I ever knew, or ever will know about football. (Well, that’s not quite true…for some reason Brent Musburger is still getting paid to ramble on incoherently??)

But why are they so enamored with this guy…I’d really like to know. He’s the only offensive coordinator that announcers constantly drool over. Thank goodness Gary Danielson wasn’t called the game…he can’t get an Alabama series without saying Lanie’s name.

Before coming to Alabama, Lanie had been a failure as a head coach for the Oakland Raiders, the Tennessee Volunteers and the USC Trojans with records of 5-15, 7-6 and 28-15, respectively. (yep, winning only 63% of your games at USC will get you fired mid-season.)

In the 3 years before he came to Alabama the team was 36-4, winning 90% of their games and 2 national championships. The past two years, they are 26-3 (89.6%) with 1 championship.

Of the 126 teams in 2015, Alabama was 30th in points per game and 45th in total yards per game this season. In the 2 seasons before Kiffin arrived in Tuscaloosa, they were 17th and 12th in points; 31st and 33rd in total yards…sliding in both points and total yards since he arrived.

This media fascination with Kiffin is a puzzle. Last night, as in every Alabama game that I have watched, we hear his name and the camera is focused on him nearly as much as it is on Saban. But what about the offensive coordinator on the other teams who play them? I don’t think I heard the name of Clemson co-offensive coordinators even once last night. Lanie seems to have lots of buddies in the booth…but why?

That’s my rant. I’m hoping that Lane Kiffin is the next head coach for the Oregon Ducks. I’d love to see their points and yards per game drop like they have at Alabama as he works his magic.   😉

Here’s a good tune: