I was mugged two months ago. Thrown off of my folding bicycle and had my work bag stolen. My elbow and face broke my fall. I was supposed to take the full six week recovery period off from work, but only took four because I feared being made redundant by my hugely capable team.
I’m still recovering, but at least I can drive again. And run. And kind of hold my son. I still can’t cradle him to sleep, or change his diaper because he squirms too much and I don’t have anywhere near the nedded dexterity.
My wife has once again blossomed into another evolution of Wonder Woman, taking on all of the adulting and child rearing responsibilities. It’s the way she copes with all the juggling that still knocks me out. You’d never say she was under strain.
And that’s been one of my biggest lessons: people can deal with major setbacks.
We all have within us the skills and fortitude needed to elbow out of a terrible situation. My wife, dealing with her personal trauma of seeing her husband arrive at the door covered in blood, simply got on with life. My colleagues, already a staff member down and on a tight deadline, managed to put out two stellar publications.
While I’ll probably never trust my elbow enough to get back into Olympic lifts, I can still run. I ran a 10km race on the weekend with no training. I had to dig deep to keep the legs ticking over at tmes, but reflecting on the personal triumphs over extreme adversity I witnessed all around me after the incident played the biggest part in me actually finishing.
I couldn’t let all the people who rushed to my aid down by punking out of the race. So I ran for them. The music helped, but thinking of the steel built into the human spirit kept me going.
Dad Perfect 