The Bathroom Blessing

My friend and I have been studying Hebrew together for a number of years. We had to stop when JJ was diagnosed  with cancer a few years ago and we are just now getting back into it. After the long delay, we are doing a lot of review and relearning, but we love Hebrew and are very motivated to learn it. Hebrew is a very unique language. I think it is impossible to learn Hebrew grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary without also learning its historical and cultural context as well as lessons of faith and life which is built into the very letters themselves.

In our studies, we have been exposed to Jewish prayers and blessings. There is a blessing for everything, including coffee and seeing rainbows. I laughed when I first learned that there is even a blessing said after using the bathroom known as Asher Yatzar. It loosely translates as: “Thank You, God, who formed human beings with wisdom and created them with openings and orifices. If one of these orifices were ruptured or one of them blocked, whoa – it would be impossible to stand before You and survive. Blessed are You, God who heals all flesh and acts wondrously.”

A bathroom blessing sounds ridiculous until a person encounters health problems. Then being thankful for working “plumbing” is completely understandable. I have been thinking about this blessing a lot over the last few days as my fractured wrist causes me all sorts of pain, challenges, and frustrations. I don’t really think all that much about how wonderful it is when my body is healthy and works well until it doesn’t.

My hand throbs all the time and any/all movement is even more painful. I am not looking forward to the surgery, but I wish it could have been scheduled sooner so I can begin healing and get back to my life sooner. I am a little concerned about my bones beginning to heal wrong and needing to be rebroken. Besides pain, I struggle if my arm itches, I can’t  scratch my right arm with my useless left hand at all, which is extremely aggravating. My left arm really itches under the splint, but although I cannot crochet, the crochet hooks are useful in reaching under the splint to scratch itches.

I have been sleeping in my recliner–but I  have trouble sleeping more than a couple of hours at a time. Last night after I struggled to get comfortable, I decided to try to sleep in our bed but EJ was already asleep with the blankets wrapped around him. So I decided instead to try the couch but my arm throbbed worse with nothing to support it so I went back to my chair.

I know it’s difficult for the guys to take on extra tasks so I am trying to do everything I am able to do to not add to their load. With time and effort, I can do some simple tasks one-handed but it is surprising how many tasks require two hands. For example,

• I can wash my hair in the kitchen sink, but it’s difficult to towel dry my hair.
• I cannot get my splint wet so I cannot shower. However, with EJ’s help, I was able to take a bath this morning. EJ covered my arm in a plastic grocery bag and taped it on with packing tap, and helped me in and out of the tub. Easy peasy….uh, not…but being clean made me feel human.
• I was planning to make chili the other day–an easy meal to put together–but despite my best efforts, I was unable to use the can opener to open the cans of chili beans. That evening EJ put together the chili ingredients, and I took the pot out of the fridge and heated it up for supper the next day.
• I baked a venison potpie I had made and frozen a few weeks ago. I was able to get the potpie in the oven, but had to be creative to get the hot pie in its flexible disposable pie plate out of the oven.
• I can’t carry heavy or multiple items.
• I can do laundry. I can transfer clothes from baskets or machines with one hand. I can move baskets of clothes by scooching them across the floor with my foot. However, it takes two hands to fold the clothes and put them away.
• I am sure I can vacuum, although I haven’t tried yet, but I can’t take out the trash.
• I can’t make the bed.
• I can clean the litter boxes in the house, but not the litter box in the garage.
• Washing dishes is difficult, and impossible if they require scrubbing. EJ bought paper plates this morning to cut down on dirty dishes.
• With difficulty I can take Hannah outside if the guys are gone and I have to, but I am very afraid of falling and often envision myself lying helplessly in the snow with TWO broken arms.
• I can’t care for the poultry. The hens stopped laying a couple months ago, but EJ found 4-5 eggs this morning. YAY!
• With enough time and effort I can write a blog post one-handed, but I cannot crochet.
• I can binge-watch Netflix.
• I can’t go get the mail. I can’t drive. I can’t snowblow the driveway. We haven’t had much snow accumulation in January so I haven’t had to snowblow for weeks but we are currently getting a winter storm with lots of snow expected. That’s a bit frustrating.

So, yeah, this difficult painful time makes me think of the Bathroom Blessing and how wonderful it is when our bodies work.

In other news, JJ’s promotion to SGT is permanent. The guy he is replacing has been fired because of a sexual harassment complaint from a non-employee woman–I’m not sure if she was a mall vendor or a customer. JJ also has become a Field Training Officer responsible for training new security guards. Not bad for only working as a security guard for two months.

I have been following the sentencing of Dr. Larry Nassar, the MSU and Olympic sports doctor who molested more than 200 girls for several decades. I was unfamiliar with him–I have never been athletic–but I am very familiar with the area in which he practiced because I have lived most of my life in that area. I used to work in Lansing and also in East Lansing not far from MSU. EJ and I also attended a church in Lansing before we were married. In fact, Nassar’s last sentencing trial–where a father lunged at Nassar for molesting his three daughters–is taking place in the very town where I grew up. My passion about abuse/victims and the area in which this is happening makes me very interested in this. I’m glad Nassar is being brought to justice and the victims are being given an opportunity to speak. I would like to say more, but it takes too much effort to type. If you are interested in this case you can learn more on-line and watch victim statements at Youtube. Here is one victim’s statement that I thought was exceptional. Rachel was the first victim to go public about Nassar.