"Cooper had a flat tire coming home from work last night.  He pulled over and attempted to fix it.....it was raining, things were wet and slippery......

At some point the truck fell off the jack and landed on Cooper.  He was able to get out from underneath the truck and call 911. 

As a result of this mishap, he has broken the T-12 vertebrate.  The doctors say surgery won't be necessary, but he will be in a back brace for 3-6 months while it heals.  Currently he is in stable condition at Summit.  He is young, and extremely tough, and should heal nicely but, we won't know for sure until they fit his brace and x-ray him to see that the alignment is correct. Prayers are needed.

If anything changes, I will let you know."

The above was the email I sent to friends and family last Tuesday.  Scary times, I tell you.  No one wants to get that call from 862-8600 telling you your son is in the back of an ambulance on the way to Summit.  I watched, helpless, as he was writhing in pain on a gurney in the emergency room.  What can you do?  Nothing.  Hold his hand, try to joke a little.  Pray that he's just bruised up and not going to shit in a bag for the rest of his life.

By Tuesday evening I could let out that breath, though.  The Doctors said he would be fine, and he basically walked out of the hospital.  Slowly, but he walked.  They say the next four weeks are going to be critical.  He needs to take it easy and rest.  Keep the brace on 24-7, and don't try to change any tires.

Coop's at his Mom's house right now.  It's a quiet one story home way out in the country where she can keep an eye on him and make sure he follows Doctor's orders.  He is playing video games and generally taking it easy. 

Recently, I mentioned to some of you that we should take a trip up to Orlinda and make a surprise visit to Coop.  I figured four people tops.  This is what we ended up with:

Anyway, we all had breakfast at Cracka' Barrel, then took Long Hollow pike to Gallatin, rescued a huge turtle that pissed on my leg, and then only made one wrong turn on the way to Portland where we made a left and eventually wound up in Orlinda.  Pulled into the front yard at Coop's mother's, all twelve of us. 

The whole family came out to see us.  No one knew we were coming but Mom, so it was a complete surprise and a wonderful show of support for a fellow rider that was injured.  We all sat in the yard and ate hotdogs and just generally shot the breeze for about an hour.  It was Kevin's or Norm's idea to pass the hat and take up a collection for Coop and the food we ate.  That was unexpected, but welcomed. 

And that, Folks, is just what this site is about.  Coming together like one big old happy family.  Hell, this is the family you do get to pick, know what I mean?

Let me just close by sharing some things I learned in the past week or two.

Thoracic is not a park where they raise dinosaurs.  It is a part of the spine, which, if you are unlucky enough to break, it's probably the easiest to fix.

Lumbar is not only the adjustment on your car seat back, it's the part of your back you do not want to break.  There's no easy fix.

Kevin HATES turtles.  Don't ask me why.  Maybe he's British.

I added twelve new members to my family recently.  Good folks, every one. 

Thanks everyone, and I will definitely see you on the road.