Another one of "those" days, emotionally speaking
Saw my surgeon today & had the stitches removed. No drainage at all in the past 3 days, and he said it wasn't red anymore at all, all good news. I start back with physical therapy tomorrow and he changed my return to work date back another couple weeks, so about the 14th I should be back to normal pretty much.
Its in the 80's and sunny here in the Cincy area, so after my Dr's visit, Teddy and I went cruising around. Its funny, how we go thru life making all these little decisions that we all make constantly, which lane to be in, where to stop, who to see and when, and how they seem totally eratic and inconsequential, but then, BAM, out of the blue, one of those little decisions changes everything about your day. I was actually thinking this very thought as Teddy and I were cruising down Interstate 71 heading for home, when I abruptly decided it was just too nice of a day to go home, and decided instead to take the next exit and head over to the park near the University of Cincinnati for a little game of fetch with Teddy. So we took our exit from the Interstate, with camera phones all around us in the cars following along our route trying to get a good pic of the Tedster do'n his thing.
We made it to the park and I pulled over on the side of the park road under a large shade tree so the Tedster had a little relief from the scorching sun. I hopped off the Spyder & proceeded to give Teddy some water so he could quench his thirst. Just as I was watering Teddy, a car half pulled over in front of us and stopped & the passenger window went down. I assumed I was going to see a camera phone pop out or a passenger wanting to see Teddy, but I didn't see anything, so I walked up to the window. And low & behold, this stop had little to nothing to do with Teddy or the Spyder. It was an older gentleman, guessing in his 70s or 80s all by himself and he was lost. He asked if I knew where the Cancer Hospital was? Well, around UC, there are about 7 hospitals in total, but none (at least to me) are known as just the "Cancer Hospital." As we talked, I told him he should probably put on his Emergency Flashers and he got a little flustered as he couldn't find the button, which concerned me. I asked, politely, "you don't know where your hazard lights are?" Thinking that their may be an issue with Alzhimers or something to that effect. Thats when he told me that it was a rental car and he didn't know it very well and that he was from Utah. Wow, along ways from home for him. I then helped look for the button, but couldn't readily find it either, so he just decided to pull up and over out of the road so cars could pass without issue. I then asked if he knew the proper name for the hospital, and he told me he was pretty sure it was the Jewish Cancer Hospital, OK, I can work with that. I went thru my head a bit, & realized that none of the hospitals around was Jewish & I couldn't recall where it was. I went & grabbed the GPS off of Teds Red Sled & returned to the mans passenger window with GPS in hand. I asked if he had a GPS which he then pulled out one from the console, but confinded he couldn't figure it out. So I did a quick search on mine & found that he was about 10 miles away from where he needed to be & that he'd have to get on the Interstate to get there, which in his condition (kinda feeble appearing, at least to me) concerned me a bit further. I found the address in Teds GPS and told him what it was as he tried entering it into his, but kept having issues. I then asked if he'd like me to input the address into his GPS for him, which he thanked me for. I inputted the info and all was set, but I could see the confusion in his eyes, just trying to figure out which way to start driving.
Then it hit me like a "TON O' BRICKS" If this was my Mom or Dad, what would I want a stranger to do, give them the info & send them on their way, hoping they made it, or would I want a total stranger to truly help in the best way they could? This was "THAT" reason I abruptly decided to take the exit off the Interstate at the last moment, so Teddy & I could help this lost soul. He explained that his wife was in the Jewish Hospital Cancer Center for treatment, all the way from Utah, and that he went out to get a bite to eat, but ended up getting lost and couldn't find his way back to the hospital. Once again, my heart sank, thinking of my own parents (who have both passed) and how anguished this man must truly be, and how lucky he was that he chose to ask Teddy & I for help. So many others, especially in a College area, would have taken advantage of him & possibly stole his GPS or robbed/mugged him, as its reported on the nightly news as a daily occurance in that area.
I explained to him that I was in no hurry myself & that Teddy & I was just going to the park to play, and that if he'd like, I could have him follow us to the hospital, which he quickly thanked me for. "No problem, let me just get geared back up & we'll be on our way, just make sure to keep up with us so you don't get lost." "No problem & thank you so much" replied the man. So off we went, all thru the college campus area & I'm sure after navigating it ourselves that he doubtfully would have been able to make it on his own. Once we got off the Interstate exit,and waiting for the light to change, with him directly behind us, I looked over at the car next to us. The lady driver, with a huge smile on her face, wound down her window, and out popped her camera phone. She said how Great she thought Teddy was & could hardly believe what she was seeing. She then asked if I wouldn't mind if she took Teddys pic, which I told her "sure, go ahead, everyone does." She said thanks, and that we had "just made her day" in that very brief 2 minutes of waiting on a street light to change. Once it changed, we were back on our mission of getting our follower reunited with his wife. A few more miles down the road, a few more turns, and we were pulling into the hospital parking lot. I went left & the gentleman went right into the parking garage, while happily honking his horn and waving his hand in appreciation out the car window at us. I didn't stop, but just kept going, leaving him at his destination & reunion with his wife.
Another day in the lyfe of a Spyder Ryde'n Pooch doing what he can to make the world a better place.
. God Bless
