Winking Angels Signal Me from On High

I got the signal yesterday to start pulling the next installment of my memoirs together. I've got most of the contents already, but I knew I couldn't finish it until it became more true than it is now. I know, that made you scratch your head, but you see, I've known what the title would be for years now. How little did I know just how true it would be. I thought it was more metaphorical than literal, but it turns out that it is both. My first book in the autobiographical genre is Slices of My Life: So Far, a gathering of stories from my blog, Slices of My Life. Volume 2 is entitled, Slices of My Life: Still Standing. I knew that was connected to the physical challenges I was battling, but when I named it that, I didn't yet realize how much of a challenge it was going to get just to stand up physically. I have a lot of it written already and more that can be added to the mix. Only I knew that I wasn't yet ready to write the final entry. The book is subtitled after the Elton John song, "Still Standing," and is intended to be a victory song before I start the next phase of my journey.

So what was the signal I got? Elton John appeared on Ellen yesterday afternoon, and of ALL the hundreds of hits he could have sung, he sung "Still Standing." Later he sang a song from his new album. That song was "Home Again," which was also telling but not the signal. I am indeed home again in Central Florida after having spent 25 years very much away from my childhood home. On top of that, when my housemate came home from work yesterday, I pointed out to her that I was in pretty good shape still by the time she got home. Many days, by the time she has gotten home from work, I've been pretty well spent. I've been able to get up and around the house, cleaning or doing little things, but by the time she's gotten home, I'm pretty exhausted from the day's battle to stay vertical and ambulatory. More on why this has been so in the book. Anyway, I even started singing that song while I was standing in front of the walker she's been letting me use for many months now. Sort of like, "look, ma, no hands!" from the commercial decades ago. Does anyone even remember what that was about? I don't.

But I digress. If I were to have a tombstone, which I won't since I plan to be cremated, my epitaph would read, "But I digress..." because that's what I do--in my writing, in my speaking, and in my everyday life. I think it's good if you simply embrace that kind of stuff. It's how my brain works, so why fight it? Eventually I do get back on topic, and since I've been doing this my whole life, no one can blame it on the aging process as I get older. Nope. It's just how I think, but I digress...

So having sung that song, which I hadn't heard in weeks, if not months, it was rather humorous that while watching Elton on Ellen, that he should sing that song. My song. Not "Your Song" or any of hundreds of his other hits, but my song, "Still Standing," after I had just been singing it by way of victory for having a really good day physically and having been standing pretty darn strong all day. Yay! While I'm not quite back yet to doing the Snoopy yippee skippee dance, I'm standing more on my own again and toddling around more sans walker. That song was the signal that I am coming back, and just in case I hadn't twigged on yet, and I hadn't, my housemate pointed out the fact, "Hey, Elton is singing your song!"

Now I plan to sing that as my song of triumph every day and claim the victory of being able to stand and walk and dance again. It helps that I already could dance. I just haven't danced very strong since before the vertigo attack, and everything else ensued since my fiftieth birthday, that I've been really strong in the dance department. I'm polishing those dancing shoes now and breaking in some new walking shoes so I can get stronger and stronger from now here on out. Perhaps if I lose this weight that I gained while being so sedentary, I might even earn the title "Tiny Dancer" but enough Elton John puns and digressing. Time to get back to dancing and singing and walking about the house, building up my strength again. I got the signal from those winking angels on high. That's my cue.