2012 Rehased, A Year in Review....part 1

A look back at 2012....

The year which is about to fade into history has been one of ups and downs on a personal level....and of course the same can be said for us as a nation and people.  A year that saw 4 members of the family spend time in the hospital, ranging from a few hours to a week, operations, and other 'issues", car wrecks, water leaks, and other bad omens.  On the good side, we got to enjoy our first grandchild as he spent his first full year of life, our oldest son become the second of the boys to graduate from a quality university, with a degree he can use, and the purchase of a second "new" car, giving me and Patricia good rides to get us around.

January starts out with a "Bang"....

January 2nd was the official New Year's Day holiday, and as with most years I planned on heading north and west of Fort Wayne, to my buddy Rick's 17 acre mini ranch and abode.  We spend most of New Year's Day drinking a few or more beers, eating, and partying until the late evening.  Over the past years Clint and I have began staying over, that way no alcohol and driving mix to worry about. 

When I awoke that Monday morning, a inch of so of snow had fallen, but it appears to be no big thing, but decided to use Patricia's Nitro with 4WD rather than the Montana mini-van anyway...by the time I headed out, I realized that this was no normal inch of snow...the glazing of ice beneath was treacherous, as I was to find out when I decided to take the back streets through Van Wert....I made it to the north edge of town, when I began to break for the upcoming stop sign.  Once I hit the peddle, I knew I was in trouble, a Semi was crawling along the adjoining east-west street, and I hit the gas to make it out of the way...I did, but slid across to the north curb and was hit head on by a poor women in a compact car.  We were but one of 11 accidents in that area in a short 10 minute span, the streets had not been treated, and we all paid the price.

The damage to the Nitro was around $3000, her car was totaled, and I was ticketed, for failure to control...the judge only fined me $25 plus costs, because she knew the situation that morning was basically unavoidable.  The Nitro was in the shop for a few weeks, but was back on the road by the end of the month....I never made it to Rick's and our get together was done for this new year.

February, as I recall was pretty uneventful, at least until the end of the month of this leap year.  I was having, at least in my mind, no health issues, when I went into the doctor's office for a routine check-up and to refill my blood pressure meds.  As the nurse practitioner was checking me out, she asked if I had any fainting problems or dizzy issues.  "Not that I could think of",  I replied.  But she insisted I have my Carotid Arteries checked out...it ended up that one was already 100% plugged and had found a new route to my brain...the other, on my right side, was 90-95% done, and they insisted on surgery...reluctantly I agreed, and on my 63rd birthday, March 16th, I headed for Lima Memorial Hospital.  Patrica and Rick joined me and Hal stopped by later that night...I survived the procedure and was booted out of the hospital the next morning, with a neck full of metal staples and a few weeks off from the upcoming baseball season.

I delayed the season until the first of April, and probably should have stayed away longer...but being stubborn I went back, and survived the season, despite getting hit during the summer season, right on the spot where the sutures had been.  My voice took about 4 months to come back to normal, and I remained a bit paranoid for the season...but now, approaching 64, I have decided to do what I can, take the meds and let God handle it.  My medical issues were done, at least for a few months, while others in the family, and my friend Rick's, were yet to come.

The spring baseball season was hot and dry for the most part...a heat wave that had began in March, remained, except for a brief spell of cool in April, for the remainder of the bat and ball season, which for me ended at the ACME State Championships, in late July.  During the spring season I worked both Sectional and District games, and continued, despite my age and my ability to piss off a few coaches, to get the votes and respect to work deep into the tournament season.

Also in the spring, sadness hit the family....our old Airedale, Reagan, nearing 14 finally gave out her last breath....she had lived longer than any Airedale we had owned, and with her passing, we are without a Airedale for the first time since Patricia and I became a couple, nearly 40 years ago.

As we moved into the summer, more hospital visits would come about...Patricia, Mom, Sam, and Rick in Indiana had their issues...but we also got to enjoy Kasyn, the Grandson growing like a weed, and swiftly moving through his first full year...Sam would graduate from Ohio State in June, with his BS in Actuarial Science in hand, and on that same day, a mini disaster would happen, and flooded house awaited us when we returned from Graduation ceremonies in Columbus...those stories and more when Part 2 is posted...

back later>>>>

Photos-Top-March 16, 2012, my 63rd Birthday also brought on my Carotid Artery surgery...January 2nd, the official Holiday of the New Year, saw me slide through the Intersection on the north end of Van Wert, and wreck the Nitro, both me and it survived...The next healed quickly, although I did have that "Frankenstein" look for a few weeks in the Spring...The dry and hot Spring and Summer didn't do my backyard flowers much good, but some came out, the Sunflowers suffered however.  Reagan Roo, our family Airedale, passed away in April, leaving us without an Airedale for the first time in 38 years....and "The K-Man" Kasyn continued to grow like a weed....a happy young man, and pleasant one he is....