Last Friday I had an appointment with a neurologist to see if they could determine what is causing this crazy vertigo I have. "It's not normal", says my ENT.
However, last Friday, I didn't want to leave the house because the threat of ice and sleet was all but certain for our roadways. I've come to really trust what our meterologist, Austin Bowling, tells us on Channel 7. Parts of our area were already being hit early in the early a.m., but it hadn't hit us on the eastend of my county here in Oklahoma, yet. I considered canceling my appointment, but appreciated the fact I'd gotten in to see this specialist as soon as I did and didn't want to postpone it.
So I donned my heavy red sweater, new red gloves and wrapped two winter scarves around my head, then grabbed my cane and waddled out the door to my Prius. It was bitter cold, as you all know due to the windchill factor. We were down to 28 degrees and bitter north wind wrenched my scarfs from my neck with every step. Thirty minutes later, I arrived at Southwest Medical Center, and gratefully parked my car relatively close, and went inside. However I was in the wrong building. So I had to waddle back out, crawl back inside my car and go to the otherside of the Hospital. This time I wasn't so blessed. I had to park farther away from the building. Yeah. They had handicap parking up close, but I've never applied for one of those tags. Figured there is plenty of handicapped folks more handicapped than me and until I reached a point where it's near impossible to walk, I'll let the wounded soldiers in our area and all the other handicapped folks have those spaces. (I confess...I sure thought it woulda been nice at that particular moment though.)
I entered at 10:45 a.m. and walkways were still dry. After waiting for 45 minutes in the office, I'd called my husband, and he said it had started icing over in area. I wasn't concerned so much about driving in the icy rain (hadn't driven in New England for 15 years without developing courage on icy roads). My concern was walking on ice with my cane. I envisioned myself slipping on the sidewalks and cracking my already messed up noggin beyond fixing. By the time I finished with my doctor the clock was hugging 1:45 p.m..
Enter my Knight in Shining Armor (well, actually he looked more like Santa with his bright red car-coat)...but...
I'm checking out of the doctor's office and hubby calls.
"Which building are you in?"
I tell him and he tells me when I'm done to meet him in the lobby with my car key and he'll get my car and bring it to me.
So...I meet him downstairs about 20 minutes later, and he says, "take a seat". I watch him trek out to my car in the freezing rain. People came and went in the lobby as my husband warms up and scrapes all the ice off my car. Then hubby drives the car around to the Medical office curb, walks me to my car, puts me inside, kisses me good-bye and sends me on my merry way home. He goes back to his truck and returns to work.
Was I grateful? You betcha. Not just for that day and that relief, but that the Lord blessed me with such a thoughtful knight-in-shining-armor over forty-nine years ago.
One man in the lobby of the medical building lobby said to me as he watched my husband helping me, "Chivalry is not dead, yet." And I replied, "neither is love."
