Jess Knows Best

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Due to a head-on car accident caused by a 16-year old last month, I have a broken right heel, ankle, lower leg (tibia and fibula), arm, and wrist, as well as two torn ligaments in the same wrist. During my two weeks in the hospital, I had three surgeries and two blood transfusions. I’m facing one more surgery to repair my wrist.

Given my inability to speed up time so I can heal faster, I don’t have much choice but to get through it. As bad as I sometimes feel, there’s no point in wasting my energy with worry or depression. Instead, I surround myself with the things that make me happiest. To borrow a phrase, these are a few of my favorite things:

• Being able to distract myself with things I enjoy, such as writing this column. Had it not been for my accident last month, I might have noticed I’ve been writing this column for a year. Happy Anniversary to me!

• Videos of Capucine. Let’s start with, “Once Upon a Time…” featured here. If you haven’t seen her, she’s a 3 or 4-year old little French girl with an amazing imagination. According to the written intro on the website, this video is: “A breathtaking story by Capucine. Starring baby monkeys lost in frightening trees, a witch, crocodiles, a tiger, a "popotamus" and a lion, and even a "tremendously very bad mammoth". There are also magic powers and an orange ring, but sometimes, "something goes amiss". Bring your popcorn and enjoy the show.”

Watch one video and you will find yourself watching the other 50+ in no time.

• My loving husband Brandon, my son Orion, my spoiled cats Tucker and Opal, and the rest of my friends. Oh! Another anniversary of note! Brandon and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on Halloween. Incidentally, I was still in the hospital, but Brandon brought dinner and sparking cider up to my hospital room for a little celebration.

So there, now you have it. Now you see what a month of laying around with your leg up on a pillow gets you. Yep. You go soft. Well, that, and painkillers. You get those too.

In all seriousness, this is time where many of us are jobless, homeless, or simply struggling to get through the “winter blues.” This Thanksgiving, please be sure to take a moment to actually GIVE THANKS to those that make the days easier to get through. It is one thing to be thankful, but giving thanks is another thing entirely. You might just make the difference that counts.