Two years before I was born Alfred Hitchcock made one of my favorite movies: Rear Window. It starred Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly and is one of the best movies ever made.
The story is about a very successful photo journalist named L.B. (Jeff) Jeffries who is confined to a wheelchair in his upper level Greenwich Village Apartment apartment, while recovering from a broken leg.
It is a simple plot. Jeffries has nothing better to do than watch the goings on in the apartments outside his window. It seems to be a pretty mundane plot for even the great Jimmy Stewart to pull off at first, but then what can only be described as movie magic happens: Enter Jeffries girlfriend, Lisa Carol Fremont, played by Grace Kelly. From the minute she appears on screen, you can no longer be a casual observer. For he next hour and forty-five minutes, you are ready to go wherever the movie takes you. I will never forget the impression that seeing Grace Kelly on the screen had on me as a teenager when I saw the movie for the first time. She was beyond a doubt, the classiest and most beautiful woman that ever lived. If you’ve never seen the movie, watch it and you will see what I mean.
I told you that story for background for my current situation.
Two weeks ago I was working in our pecan orchard with Lori. She was weed eating with our estate trimmer along the fence while I was pruning trees and weed eating around them. I saw an armadillo hole near the base of a tree and made a mental note not to step in it. Then when I was ready to move on to the next tree, I stepped in the hole. My heel went down into it but my toes didn’t. I heard and felt a pop and I went to the ground. Lori saw me go down from across the field and rushed to my aid. I managed to stand before she got to me in her van but I had a very hard time keeping my balance and staying on my feet. She helped me into the car and we decided I should go home and shower before we went to the doctor.
After some X-rays and an MRI, Dr. Volpini verified what I feared. The pop I heard was my Achilles tendon and to fix it would require surgery and a long recovery period where I can’t put any weight on it.
Last Tuesday I had the surgery and can only get around with the aid of a knee scooter.
I can’t tell you how awesome Lori has been taking care of me. I have felt like Jimmy Stewart being taken care of by Grace Kelly, only better. Last week I told Lori that when I look at her I still see the twenty-year-old girl I married.
She said: “That’s because your eyes are going bad.”
I said: “That may well be, but my heart can see just fine.”
Forty three years ago today, under the eucalyptus trees in Hilltop Park, China Vista, California, the most incredible girl I have ever met, married me. Happy 43rd Anniversary Lori.
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