It’s a funny thing that. Acceptance.

It can take eons. Or it can take moments.

Something I have had to do a fair bit of lately.

I have told you about our wedding day. 

The months leading up were incredibly busy.

I had been working most of the year even though I ‘retired’ the previous year.

In January, my previous employer asked me in to help out for 3 weeks.

I finally left at the end of the August so we could do some USA travel and then have time to organise the impending nuptials. 

It was a busy few months. 

So. 

We got married.

Not something that needed acceptance of course.

An exciting time.

A lot of planning went into the whole shebang. 

Months and months.

I mentioned to my married kids how in awe I was that they seemed to do it all so effortlessly. And at a distance.

One marrying in Disney World Florida (organised from Australia) and one in Queenstown (organised from Christchurch). 

My boys said it was easy.

Hmmmmmmm

My DIL said it’s good to be organised. 

Which of course I am.

Seems with a wedding however, that there are so many things that could just pass by, things you don’t think about.

My list kept growing.

You know I had a list. 

And a spreadsheet. Or two. 

Once you start thinking about each area of the wedding you start to realise the little things that make it what it eventually becomes.

The reception room, the table decorations (I incorporated my three favourite things, books, tea cups and lollies), the table place cards, the serviettes, decorating outdoors for the ceremony. 

The big table that sat outside the reception room.

The one I forgot about until the day before.

How to let people know what table they were to be seated at. 

And what about putting stickers with our names and wedding date on those cute little candles that everyone wanted to take home?  

Hated to burst their bubbles by telling them they were K-Mart candles and probably didn’t hold the smell. 

Mind you, not sure they did want to take them home. We sort of insisted knowing we had 70 of them. 

Organising a wedding?

It can be simple or fancy or just a little more complex than you anticipate.

I decided I would tie the serviettes up into little bows with rose gold ribbon.

Turns out ribbon frays.

Nail polish on each end of 100 ribbons required.

No doubt there was probably a simpler way but once I started, and being slightly OCD, I had to continue. 

Those little jobs that maybe were, or were not noticed, but made me happy, took some time and effort.

And two hands. 

Pinterest has a lot to answer for. 

Aside from that, I had high expectations for the wedding. We had spent months thinking about music. Creating playlists. We both love to dance. It was an important component of the whole thing. 

Turns out I needed to lower my expectations.

Acceptance. 

Here’s my story. 

Three weeks before the wedding I was fairly well organised, the list had crept down to single digits. 

Lucky.

Seventeen days out, on a beautiful sunny Tuesday morning at 7am, there I was riding to yoga. 

Sailing along on Bruiser, maybe 25km p/h, not a care in the world.

Except that sun.

Hence my right hand up to my eyes, shading so I could see.

As always when I ride, I am on the lookout for people in cars and potential door openers. 

Those side mirrors that close in are very handy to a bike rider, it tells you usually that no one is in the car. 

But then when you are sailing, sometimes it isn’t always easy to see those people in time. I had been lucky up to now with only one close call. 

Coming around the corner, I put my right hand down onto the handlebar.

Of course the sun was then in my eyes. 

Two cars in, tucked away, a door opened.

A split second before I went sailing back, thump onto the road, bang straight onto my head, I saw it.

Too late. 

Car doored.

Fortunately I was able to jump up quite quickly.

Fortunately because I knew I had cars behind me. 

The villain of the story asked if I was ok.

‘No, call an ambulance, I’ve hit my head quite hard’ I said as I ran over to the sidewalk and lay on the damp grass, out of harms way. Too bad about bruiser. Bruiser had to take his chances. 

The villain of the story, Alex, a hell of a nice guy actually, who felt extremely bad, who kept apologising, who I kept saying it’s ok Alex, it was an accident, rang the ambulance and kept me talking. I guess he moved Bruiser off the road. Given Bruiser didn’t seem to have any injuries. 

My Apple watch vibrated incessantly, until I lifted my arm to see that it was suggesting I had a fall and if I wasn’t ok it would ring all my emergency contacts. That would be all 6 of my children and MoD.

Bit early to ring Aussie. 

Through blurred vision I managed to hit the right ‘yes I’ve had a fall but I’m ok’ button.

Alex then told me there was a delay with the ambulance, by this time I had hit speed dial for MoD. MoD, who was on a walk with the Princess, said he was coming to get me, and within what seemed to be almost immediately, there he was.

By this time I was fading. My shoulders had taken the brunt of the impact but I wasn’t so worried about that.

In my Australian life, I had worked at the Brain Injury Clinic. I knew what an impact like I had just experienced could indicate, and I was starting to show the symptoms.

I started to think about our impending wedding and having my head sawn open to release the pressure.

Yes disasterising.

But yes, it happens.

And more frequently than people would like to know about.

The head is a precious receptacle.

My helmet was certainly split. 

MoD got me in the car and drove at high speed to ED. 

Put his hazards on and even drove on the wrong side of the road.

Superhero. 🦸‍♂️

At one point the poor man thought I may have passed away.

Pretty scary stuff.

Clearly I didn’t cause here I am telling the story. 

ED triaged me fairly quickly, monitored my head trauma (slight concussion and shock) xrayed my shoulder and determined I was badly bruised with no breaks. 

In good time I was home and lying on the recliner feeling somewhat sore and sorry for myself but completely grateful that I didn’t have that head injury. 

It could have been so much worse.

The bruising and soreness would be over in time for my intended crazy dancing at the wedding. I have no filter when it comes to dancing. I would recover in enough time to practice the wedding dance, whatever that may have evolved into. 

Next day I noticed a lump on my collar bone. That ain’t right.

I made an appointment with my GP who rang the Radiologist to determine that NO, I did not have a fracture. 

His advice was to continue the pain medication (no sling) and to rest.

The way I felt, I certainly didn’t need to be told that twice. 

Rest I did.  Well as much as you can when you are preparing for visitors and a wedding. 

Six days post the accident MoD took me to the 24 hour clinic.

Probably due to a little screaming in pain every time I moved the wrong way. 

Poor MoD. 

For the past six days I had been wondering around, doing all those little last minute jobs. 

Thinking I must be the biggest wuss in the world, whining about mere bruising. 

I had a very clear clavicle fracture.

No dancing for you on your wedding day young lady.

Sling required.

Acceptance. 

But that’s not the end of the story folks.

Although it would be nice if it was. 

More to follow.