As some of you may now be aware, today (July 29th) marks sixteen years of marriage for Emma and I, during which time we have had our fair share of experiences, both good and bad. Today however, I would like to share a near-tragic experience with you that happened almost twenty years ago, which few of you may already know, that changed our lives irreversibly. When Emma and I first met I had recently started a small balloon decorating business called Balloonatics, which specialized in Balloon décor for all kinds of events. Emma quickly became intrigued by it and began helping me out on many of the installations, before becoming my partner both in business and in life. One day in November 1994 (I think) we were working at the Wildey gymnasium installing enormous balloon garlands in the ceiling for the ‘Barbados I Love You’ independence concert, which that year was featuring noted calypsonian John King. I remember it as clearly as though it was yesterday. Emma was working on the catwalk up in the ceiling and I had just taken her some water, as it gets extremely hot up there during the day. I had just come back downstairs and was walking across the mezzanine level when I suddenly heard a loud crack coming from the ceiling. I looked up and watched in horror as Emma fell (almost in slow motion) through the ceiling of the gymnasium, almost thirty feet onto the seats below. I froze for an instant as other people working in the gym began screaming “call the ambulance” “call the police” “Lord, she dead” before sprinting across to where she lay crumpled on the seats, at which point I asked the most dumb-assed question ever “are you okay?” A small whimper told me the obvious and within minutes the ambulance had arrived to take her to the hospital where she was attended to immediately. The doctors and nurses however were all very concerned with her condition and sure enough the X-rays told the full story – broken shoulder, broken elbow, broken wrist, multiple fractures of the back, etc. etc. In fact, when the doctor showed me the X-ray of her wrist I felt my stomach drop into my socks as it looked like a photo of a bowl of soup, with lots of bones floating around. What was absolutely amazing however was the fact that none of her injuries was life-threatening, nor had she suffered the loss of feeling in any of her limbs. It seemed as though she had landed in the precise position she needed to in order to have survived the fall. An inch in either direction and without doubt she would have broken her back and possibly severed her spine. Well, the medical team led by Dr. Persaud worked feverishly through the night to repair as much of the damage as they possibly could, including the insertion of a steel plate to hold her wrist together (which is the reason that Emma can’t rotate her right hand) and fortunately the operation was a success. The drama however didn’t end there. (Bear in mind that this whole thing unfolded on the Thursday). On Saturday morning I received a call from Emma asking me to come and collect her from the hospital. I was completely bewildered as the doctors had told me that it would be a while before she would be able to leave so I asked who released her, to which the reply (should have been obvious really) was “me”. She had decided that she wanted to recover at home with me and James (our eldest son, from Emma’s previous marriage who was just two years old at the time) and through the most excruciating pain, had gotten herself off the bed and over to the nurses station to sign herself out. Over the weeks that followed I watched in utter amazement as this tiny little woman (barely five feet tall) bore the agony of a broken body like the bravest of troopers, insisting all the while that she wanted to be on any jobs that we were doing as she wasn’t prepared to stay at home and let me have all the fun. Yes, my wife is tough and yes there are people who resent her for it but that mental toughness is the reason that she is still alive today and it is that which has earned her the respect for what she does from some of the best in our industry. Today is not only special to me for the fact that it is the sixteenth anniversary of the day we married, but it is also the twenty-first anniversary of the day we met. So we shall celebrate life and raise a glass to all of you who understand the importance of living for the moment and finding happiness in every breath that you take. Life is far too precious to waste worrying about bills, money and all of the other bullshit that life throws at us. Take a break from it all and think for a moment about what matters to you the most, what do you REALLY want from this life? Focus your energies on those things, the things that make you happiest and then you will begin to understand the true meaning of life. Happy anniversary my love.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 17:46:05 +0000
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