I am back in Southern Illinois, but no one is to blame for the sudden change in my plan to finish massage school; it's nobody's fault. Hubby and I stopped at Ferne Clyffe on the way back from Florida. He said this split in the rock might be the result of a fault line in the area.
I quit the massage program because of the PITA I mentioned in an earlier post. The pain I began to experience just a couple of days after returning to Florida in late May began to interfere with my activities of daily living. Once I became seriously sleep deprived and had to take ibuprofen around-the-clock to keep the pain at a tolerable level, hubby insisted I see a doctor. The chiropractor I went to said I might have a herniated disk and wanted me to go to a medical doctor for more testing and possibly an MRI. Our insurance coverage in Illinois does not permit out-of-network referrals or expensive tests. So my only option, if I didn't want us to be bankrupted by exorbitant medical expenses, was to quit school and return to Illinois. I wonder if my spine is beginning to look like this juniper I planted in Florida a month ago?
Hubby came back to Florida last week to pick me up. He took Sarah and me out to dinner and for a nice long walk at the beach a couple of days before we had to leave for Illinois again. It's hard for me to lose the sand between my toes but even harder to leave my beautiful daughter in Florida. She is being brave and optimistic about the whole thing.
Early in the morning before we left, hubby and I took a walk in the neighborhood. This huge tree I am standing next to is a live oak, one of the biggest and oldest in the area. It owes a great deal of its strength and stature to the grove of oaks which thrive here. They have withstood and triumphed over many trials in their lifetimes.
Like Sarah, I am keeping a positive attitude about everything. I know I am blessed beyond measure with a loving and supportive family, friends, and neighbors. Nothing that comes my way can uproot the strong bond we have among us.
