By the time our son was discharged from the drug rehab program he was almost 18 years old. He had met a young woman in the program and decided that he was not coming back home to live. She was from the Baltimore area, and they decided to get an apartment and live together. I felt optimistic about our son, he said all of the right things. After all that is what I wanted to hear, wasn't it? It was about this same time that Lee received orders for Heidelberg, Germany. We were elated, we had always hoped to go to Germany on assignment. Our son assured us that he would be fine, he had gotten a job, and he really was trying to start a new life.
According to Lee's orders he was to report to the 130th Station Hospital in Heidelberg on December 20th,1977. I wanted Lee to try and have the date postponed until after Christmas, but he was reluctant to do so for fear of the orders being canceled. As it turned out, when Lee arrived at his duty station in Heidelberg as he had been directed, the Operating Room was only doing emergency cases. The staff queried Lee's arrival before Christmas. It was a sore subject with me, therefore we did not discuss it in any detail. He was there now, and the girls and I would be following him just as soon as we sold the house. The house finally was sold in March, YEAH! Admittedly, it is not one of my favorite things to be in the process of selling a house. The house has to be spotless all of the time, and Realtors have no compunction about calling the last minute to show the house.
The day came for the movers to arrive and pack up our household. The way it worked is we actually had 3 different shipments. There was the hold baggage which contained the immediate things we would need. These were things like sheets/pillowcases, pots and pans and other necessities to get along with until the rest of our things arrived. All of the large furniture was put into storage. The rest of our household things arrived in Germany about May. On the morning that the packers were coming I was home alone. Friends had asked me if I needed help, but as always I had graciously declined. Usually, when we moved Lee would be present, but of course he was already in Europe. The packers had arrived bright and early, there were 4 men and me. About 8 a.m. someone knocked on the door, much to my surprise, a friend from church stood there with a pot of coffee and a bag of doughnuts. Sandy also had a mop and a bucket with her as well as her 2 year old daughter, Coleen. She had a big smile on her face and said, "I knew you wouldn't ask for help, so here I am." What a welcome sight she was too. I was so surprised and grateful that I was on the verge of tears. Sandy stayed all day and helped me clean, sort things for the church, and just give me moral support, a true friend. We were just about finished, the packers had left and I was just doing some last minute cleaning. I was down on my hands and knees washing the base boards when I felt this sharp object hit my hand. I stood up to examine my hand, but could not detect any wound. Sandy bent over and picked up a sewing needle, or I should say a half a needle. She said "you have the other half of this needle in your hand. I dreaded going to a medical facility, it was about 4 p.m. on a Friday afternoon. Any of the facilities would be busy, but I had to have my hand looked at. Sandy took me to Fort Meade in Maryland. A corpsman looked at the wound and ordered an x-ray. Sure enough there was the other half of the sewing needle sitting between my middle finger and my ring finger. My hand was swelling quickly and I struggled to get my wedding band off. We had been married 18 years and I had never taken my wedding ring off before. The corpsman told me that there was not a surgeon in the hospital. He had spoken with the surgeon who stated that "the patient should return on Monday for removal of the needle." I was scheduled to fly to Germany on Monday evening. I simply told the corpsman, "I am flying to Germany on Monday evening with or without this needle." A few minutes later I was discharged and left the hospital with an antibiotic and some pills for pain. At this point it was approximately 7 p.m. The girls and I said our fond adieus to Sandy, and we headed to Virginia where we were staying with friends. Our friends are both medical professionals, he is a CRNA also the same as Lee. He called a friend who is a surgeon and they smuggled me into the hospital. I did not have insurance for a civilian hospital, and I am eternally grateful to both of them for coming to my aid. It took the physician almost an hour to locate the needle, and remove it. When I left the hospital my hand was wrapped up like a prize fighter and still very numb from the lidocaine anesthetic. In the middle of the night however, I awoke with a throbbing pain in my hand. No matter, I was still happy because in 2 days the girls and I would be winging our way to Germany, to be reunited with Lee.
My bandaged left hand was somewhat beneficial in the airplane and especially in the airport. Our baggage consisted of 7 bags which included a trunk. It would have been really cumbersome for me without the assistance of several generous fellas who helped me. Lee was there waiting for us with open arms, and it felt good to be together again. When we arrived at our apartment Lee had prepared a lovely dinner, complete with homemade brownies. We were all very exhausted and it was about mid-day when we arrived in Germany. We were on European time now and my adrenaline was running high which enabled me to get through the day. The girls and I had some jet lag for a couple days, but we survived and a new adventure was about to begin.
Until next time, be good to one another.
Carol
