I try to follow the unwritten rules when I blog. Maybe they aren't actually blogging rules, but just good taste, or perhaps an understanding of the boundaries between us humans. I try to share things I've learned about bikes, life, and this world we live in. You can search my archives and you won't come across blogs with titles like, "My Colonoscopy, the inside story," nor will you find pictures with captions like, "Can anyone identify this thing growing between my toes."
On rare occasions I feel compelled to share something personal usually because the emotional impact is so staggering that I can't keep it inside.
Something I did NOT plan to share was that Hottie had surgery on her fibula this past Monday. She has been home elevating and icing. While I had a pretty routine knee surgery in January (I'm not even sure I shared that) Hottie's was pretty serious. They had to take out some crap from a surgery six years ago and there was a potential for nerve damage. Leave it to Evo and my gallows humor to call Hottie "Deadfoot" for the one day she couldn't move her foot. So far it seems the surgery was a success.
As you may recall we have a remodel of our bathroom that is almost complete, with just the "come backs" to take care of. One other bit of trivia is that our neighbors sold their house and since it closed almost two months ago there has been a parade of trucks as the carpet was replaced, appliances upgraded, and other goings on, but nobody moved in until two days ago.
This afternoon Hottie is limping around the house and has a visitor looking at a portion of the remodel. She hears the front door open and assumes she hadn't closed it all the way when she let in her guest. As she approaches the door, standing in the open doorway is a six foot, two hundred pound guy in his early twenties dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. For a moment she thinks it is one of the crew that had been working on our remodel. Then Hottie realizes she has never seen this guy and she tries to push him out of the doorway and close the door. He grabs her arm and his fingernails cut into Hotties forearm and she starts bleeding. (Yes, this is some serious shit at Casa de Evo) She tried to free herself and he didn't want to let go. She finally twisted free and the intruder went into our living room and picked up one of Hottie's crutches.
As Hottie is trying to figure out what to do, there is a knock at the door and Hottie opens it (what the hell else could happen, right?) These is a woman who said she is his caretaker and she is here to get the guy out of our house. The guy lays down on the couch and picks up a pillow and he tries to eat it. Hottie's guest is freaking out and the woman can't get the guy to leave, and Hottie is bleeding. Tux, by the way, is wagging his tail because he thinks it is a party!
By now Hottie has realized something isn't normal with this guy (he is autistic) and she also realized she is bleeding all over the floor and the situation isn't under control (he won't leave). Hottie calls 911. In minutes there are policemen, paramedics (policy when there is blood, not Hottie's call) and the woman, who is the guy's caregiver has managed to get him out of the house.
As amusing as this story is, I still would not have shared this, but for the emotional adventure I experienced. While any blog is essentially all about the author, my emotions are insignificant compared to the trauma Hottie went though.
Hottie lost some skin and has bandages on her arm (to match her leg) and although her arm was strained I expect no permenent physical damage. Hottie had the option to press charges, but didn't think that was the right path. We have a special needs niece and Hottie showed compassion to this situation. Less than an hour later the guy's dad knocks on the door and falls all over himself apologizing. Thus, Hottie met another of our new neighbors. Hottie expresses essentially, "I'll give you one, but only one and this was it."
I am an absolute "turn the other cheek" kind of guy. I probably put up with more than I should. Yet when Hottie was attacked, I experienced emotions I didn't know I had. I didn't want to hurt or punish the autistic kid in any way, but autistic or not, he overpowered my wife and hurt her. We aren't going anywhere and he just moved in next door. I felt helpless and angry at that helplessness.
I recall when someone broke into my truck and stole my speakers back in 1982. I felt violated. Now that I have some perspective on life, what a dick I was to feel violated that my stupid truck was broken into. Evo is about evolution. Nobody has ever asked what the Evo stands for and I just told the world. I'm a better person now than I was then. Yet the emotions I felt today were totally primal. I have only felt them once before and that was when my youngest son was robbed. That was years ago and I still can't drive by that spot without getting a knot in my stomach.
I'll try and digest this and share some insights when I have figured it out. Clearly that has not happened yet.
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