THE CZECH IS IN THE MAIL
It feels so good to be back. That line was spoken by multi-platinum artist Usher in the song “Spotlight” that he co-performed with Gucci Mane in 2009. Being “back” is how I have felt since Wednesday.
On Wednesday, I was cleared by the doctor who performed my gallbladder removal to start lifting again. For the previous two weeks, I was unable to lift anything heavier than 10 pounds, which included my daughters, Megan and Isabella.
Those two weeks felt more like two years at times. Megan and Bella are used to walking up to me and being picked up by me.
It broke my heart when I had to reject their requests to pick them up and hold them. It broke their hearts, too.
The only way I was able to hold Megan or Bella was if I sat on the couch or recliner and my wife, Sabrina, picked them up to put them in my lap. The girls were not too keen with that situation, so they were out and about running around after 30 seconds.
The last two weekends, however, I had help in the form of my mom – also known as “Gran” – and my soonto- be 11-year-old son, Toby. They were able to pick up or play with Megan and Bella to keep them distracted from the fact that “Dada” couldn’t pick them up. Both Toby and Gran spent the last two weekends with us, which was a tremendous blessing. They were able to help out with things that I wasn’t able to do for two weeks.
I had my follow-up appointment with the surgeon on Wednesday and was praying for good news. After he said that I was clear to go swimming and lift things within a reasonable weight, I gave him a high-five and lifted Megan up in the air.
We did our signature, “Woosh,” where I lift her up in the air above my head numerous times. While I only did three wooshes with Megan, those were the three best wooshes we had in a long time.
I have performed wooshes with Bella, too. I haven’t performed wooshes with Toby since my surgery, but I’ll have to work up to that since he weighs between 80-90 pounds.
It’s actually been a few years since I performed wooshes with Toby. The last time that I carried him on my shoulders was two years ago.
I’ll have to work up to that feat, too. Nonetheless, it feels so good to be back.
Chlapek is the area editor of the Taylor Press. He can be reached at jason.chlapek@ granitemediapartners. com
