Quarantine Week 2: The Quitter Feet and the Centenarians

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This is quarantine week two for us. How about you? All the moms are working harder than EVER. Well, not all, but you know, a vast amount of us anyway, all of us who still have kids at home.

The schools here sent fresh new packets of work, a separate packet for each upcoming week. I printed all four packets out, but I have not read them yet.

And what better time would there be for my feet to decide to completely quit? I cannot walk six feet without total agony. I have the plantar fasciitis and a heel spur on my left heel. This was not such a big deal a year ago when it only hurt in the morning, and then it would go away. No worries. Then in the fall it would throw a fit every time I walked too long, and now for the past few months it has steadily gotten worse and worse. Now they are done. They are just done. My feet say that they could not possibly do their job. They want a vacation, I guess.

I cannot cook, carry laundry up and down the stairs, or sweep. Walking, my favorite past-time for as long as I can remember is completely out of the question.

This morning I had one of those telephone appointments with my doctor, and she put in referrals to podiatry and physical therapy. I sincerely hope this helps because I have completely run out of all the kinds of medicine they have given me, and I forgot to ask for more.

There is hope.

My son’s podiatrist assured me that if I make an appointment with him, he can give me a steroid shot that will help me through the worst of this.

I’m reading this book about centenarians in Central America. They interviewed about ten of them, and their quotes are really delightful and encouraging to read. There were several recurring themes with these 100-somethings. Every single one of them had a firm faith in God. They each worked hard throughout their lives but also spend time with their family or friends daily.

Here are a few quotes about their philosophies:

As you can imagine, this particular quote from the book encouraged me most of all. I can also accept my current physical reality of not walking well without getting sad or angry because you know what, it IS God’s will. Do I have the power to make my feet whole? No. If I did, I would have done it a long time ago. Is there a doctor who has the power to make my feet well? I don’t know yet. The last one I saw did not. Maybe the next one can help me. More than likely, it is going to take a while.

I am going to trust God.

Not just with my feet, but with this whole crazy quarantine home school, world turned upside down thing. I will not be laying in bed at night wringing my hands about what ifs. This is outside my control. I am going to go on about my business because God is in control.

I love both of his quotes, but the possessions bit is the best. We do not need all this stuff. Amen.

A positive outlook was another thing the centenarians all had in common. There was not a Debbie Downer in the bunch.

The author said that one interviewee got excited when she handed her the equivalent of $20.00 and said, “I ran out of food and wondered how I was going to buy some. It’s always fun to see how God will provide.”

Saul also said that the best friend of his life was God. God is the one true friend. It’s true. People will let you down. I think it is usually (99% of the time) without meaning to cause harm. It’s usually unknowingly, but God never will. He will comfort you, help you, and guide you every step of your journey.

Sometimes, it helps to hear these things from people older and more experienced than ourselves, someone like these centenarians. This book thoroughly calmed me down last night.

Honestly, I needed a boost in dealing with the challenges of the past two weeks.

Yesterday, after a day of coaching the boys through all of their studies, settling disputes, and answering the complaints of the little Army we have created here, dealing with my feet quitting on me was more than I could bear. It was beyond me. I sought refuge in my bedroom, only to find Alan in here on the phone with important people from work. I plopped down and went to work on my computer trying to find a way to get myself a doctor’s appointment.

Everything has gone to online now, and I did not have a user name or a password, and I had to get through what felt like 500 levels of security to obtain access to my own health care profile. After doing all that could be done online, and still not having my problem solved, I sat here and cried. I wasn’t only sad. No, I was also angry, desperate, frustrated, and all in a tizzy.

Once Alan could get off the phone, he approached me like, “What’s wrong?” I had to honestly admit that I have cried everyday for the past two weeks. It is always something. My workload has literally quadrupled, and I cannot walk. I don’t know how to make do for the walking thing either. There are no crutches or wheelchairs here. I do own a cane, but I don’t know how to use it. Plus, it’s both feet that hurt anyway, though the left is worse than the right.

I do not like to admit when things are bad, but this is not my finest moment.

Things did get better though. Like I mentioned above, I finally got to speak to a doctor. My online account is all set up now, and I made a list of all the usernames and passwords required.

I’m so proud of my people too.

This morning Daniel made his own pancakes all by himself, real cooked-on-the-stove pancakes. He’s only nine. Alan put Caleb in charge of making sure nothing caught fire, etc., and Daniel handled the cooking. Can you believe that? Well, it sure surprised me.

I told the boys that they have to be my legs today, and they have done a very good job of it. They have not complained even though I know doing Mom’s chores is not their idea of a good time. Ha! However, we also skipped official school work today, so that went pretty far to ease the blow of extra house work.

By the way, the quarantine birthday was a success. Thank you to everyone who called or sent gifts, etc.

I feel thankful that our family does have it so good.

We didn’t lose our jobs or our income. We are blessed, and we know it. I hope you are all doing okay. Keep in touch. Feel free to comment below what you’ve been up to or any tips you have for walking on your hands. I need to master that…haha!