NOVEMBER 2018 BEACON

The only good thing about being in a catastrophic auto accident is realizing that in an instant, things go from normal to as bad as it gets, the only direction to go is up. Waking up in a hospital bed with my head immobilized and a morphine drip in my arm, and the right side of my body broken from head to foot, it took a team of trauma specialists a week to explain to me all the things that were damaged in my wife, virtually every bone, organ, muscle, and system were damaged. The prognosis for her survival was slim, the chance for recovery was little more than a prayer. As I progressed from a hospital bed to a wheelchair, to a walker, to a cane over months it occurred to me that as Jeri was also coming out of a 4-month coma, the worst was past, she would live. She still couldn’t see, hear, or move, but she’d survive, now it was time to fix things. If I had to choose between what happened to us or some hideous disease where one doesn’t know if there is an “up-side” in the future, I’ll take the crash any day. I’ve written several articles about all of this for another publication and have opted not to include them in the Beacon as I didn’t see any relevance. Until now. I see parallels between our Club and the Church we belong to in that both organizations have some very talented and zealous cooks. I mention this because when tragedy strikes, help comes from varied and unexpected places. For me, it was a matter of meals that just started showing up on the porch. Nothing special, just the same home cooked dinners everyone was eating and a couple portions set aside for us and someone was delegated to deliver them. I can tell you, at the most stressful times, not having to worry about cooking some days, is the most helpful thing a person can receive. During this season of giving, I’m asking you to recognize any need you may see in our Club, and take a few minutes to put a couple meals aside in a tin and deliver to our Members who could use a little help. Blue Skies; Following Seas, Ron