Dont squander It

 saw my hip fracture surgeon for our one year follow up this week.
Everything is perfect.
I asked her what limits there were on my hip.
Can I run or jump without hurting it? "Yes."
Can I go paragliding if I want to? "Yes."

Can you show me exactly how you reattached the Gluteus Medius muscle to my femur? "Sure." She pulls up a screen and shows me the intricacies of the repair.

Can you tell me why, at the end of a four-mile hike, I start walking sideways like I'm drunk? "That's just muscle fatigue. Hike more, wobble less. It's conditioning."

Can you tell me why, if I misjudge traffic at a crosswalk and try to run, I feel so awkward? "That's the mind-muscle connection that needs to be strengthened."

How should I proceed? "Go live your life."

Ever since hearing those words, I've been tearing up at every little thing. I have so much gratitude that it won't stay in. It keeps seeping out through my eyes.

The rest is up to me!! Oh, friends - I can handle that. I can hike more, wobble less. I can go live my life.

578 days ago, I was told there was nothing they could do. The bone had been fractured for too long, the bone fragment was scarred in, the muscle had shortened excessively. It was too late.
Yet here we are.
If you've ever felt stuck or broken without a way out, and suddenly there was a way, you know what I'm feeling. If you have been rescued, saved, forgiven, shown radical grace, or given a second chance - mind, body or spirit - then you know.
I am not going to squander this.

I'm not sure what that looks like just yet, but just like when I was rescued from the alley, I know I'll never be the same. And I will never stop singing.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.