She has a new hip!

The surgeon just came out to say that he's finished and everything went well.  The new ball and socket went in as he had hoped and he expects a very good recovery.  Given the weakness of the bone, Mary Anne will not be weight bearing immediately, but we will give it a couple of weeks to acclimate to the new setup.  Still, her being able to toe-touch and have little or no pain will be an immense improvement.


MA is in recovery and I should get to see her in an hour and a half or so.


It's been a long day, but the 90 minute surgery is a vast improvement over the 11 hours in the surgical waiting room for TGP's heart surgery a few years ago.  I did get out and get some lunch an hour ago.


We should get a good night's sleep tonight - the first in quite a while.


Thanks to all for the prayers and concern.

Surgery begins

We finally saw the anesthesiologist and got MA some pain meds.  I guess they didn't want to do it too soon before surgery.  She was feeling much better and able to lay back on the table as they took her back to the surgery suite.  Dr. Greenhow signed her left leg (that's standard protocol to be sure they do the correct hip in the OR).  He says she should be back out in two hours, so I expect to know more by 5pm Mountain time.

Thanks to all for the prayers.

At the Hospital

We arrived at the hospital about 11:40.   The car ride was very uncomfortable.|

Found surgical waiting room.   Went back to park car.  Got registered and paid copay- very thankful for insurance.
12:25 they took MA back to get her settled and on an IV.
More later

Pre-Surgery

The first in a a series of posts today and tomorrow.  We are blessed by so many friends and family that I am sure I will leave someone out if I try to send emails or texts.  Please set up an RSS reader, or if that sounds like Greek, just check back at this blog and I'll do what I can to keep everyone in the loop.


We had every bit as rough a night as we expected.  Somehow knowing the nature of the break intensified the pain some.  Plus, after 2am, MA wasn't allowed food or liquid, so no more pain pills.  We watched a couple of movies and finally the sun came up.


Sparky is up on the couch (against the rules) but he can't stand it when MA hurts and has to have his head in her lap to comfort her.


I've packed a small bag and we're headed to the hospital about 11am Mountain Time.  Medical Center of Aurora - South Campus.  We have faith in God and in our surgeon and look forward to a great outcome.  Surgery is scheduled at 4:30 by the hospital, but the doctor's scheduler said it would be closer to 1:30.  It would be wonderful for herself to feel better before the day is out.


Thank you all for the prayers and support.

Down by the old Millstream

It's been way too long since I've written; life hasn't been overly easy lately.  More on that in future (hopefully soon) posts.

In the 1960s in rural Kentucky, houses had names instead of street numbers.  My address growing up was:
Millstream, Newtown Pike
Georgetown, KY  40324

Today, the USPS uses street numbers.  And the road I grew up on has been rerouted since 1966 when I started living there.  But, I just signed the contract and bought the land!  So, even thought we are temporarily in the wilds of Colorado, you can write down 2065 Lemons Mill Rd in your address book as our long term permanent address.
You can see the old house in this shot from the creek from 1980:

We're going to take down that house and build Mary Anne's Barbie dream house on its foundation.

Here's a winter view from the old back deck:
I will enjoy my morning coffee on a new terrace with that view before 2011 is over.


Cousin Berkley was my real estate agent for the purchase.  Kim, my architect buddy, has already drawn up preliminary house plans.  Cousin Jay is ready for demolition and building once the contract is signed.


It's amazing how life can come full circle.

And the walls come a-tumbling down

It’s interesting how little we human beings open up to each other naturally, even within families.  As you know, we lost our beloved Liza this summer and the tragedy continues to hurt.  As with all pain, we search for the silver linings, the things we know that Liza leaves with us even while we don’t get the joy of being with her directly.

Mary Anne and I spent a week with Dunn and Julie and Jordan a few weeks back.  The pain is still palpable over there.  Dunn was reading CS Lewis’ A Grief Observed, written after Jack’s wife Joy died.  CS Lewis describes losing a loved one as being like an amputation.  A grieved person may well learn to walk again, but he will always be a one legged man.

But, back to the search for a silver lining.  Dunn and I have not always been as close as we could have been.  Brothers, certainly, but not anywhere near best friends.  Growing up, I found him pesky, obnoxious and loud.  And I'm sure he found me distant, arrogant and plenty of other adjectives. But now, I long to be with him.  I enjoy the way he uses the things Uncle Hall taught him to do - the elaborateness and zeal of his household projects.  I enjoy that he gave me Cardillo sauce (from one of his employees' brother) for me to make pizza.  I enjoy watching him learn about dog training. And I am reminded that he is one of the funniest people I have ever met as well as a fabulous story teller.  He's clearly a great lawyer - I've never seen a professional community reach out to someone they truly care about like the SC Bar has around Dunn. 

Mary Anne spent the week with the three of them while I worked in Denver.  She’s always a beautiful presence.  That’s a small blessing of my travel job - I can fly to work from anywhere.

Sam the German Shepard is a ray of light in the house.

Mary Anne is the dog whisperer.  Love is a puppy chin on your foot or in your lap, and that puppy loves Julie and Dunn and Jordan.

Why do we put walls up?  I don’t know who Osho is, but he said “Love and Ego cannot exist together".  Being a Hollingsworth, I have done the ego thing very well my whole life.  ALL Hollingsworths I know have healthy egos, perhaps not easily leaving all the room we should for showing love.  Life is busy, and you never expect the tragedy of the loss of an innocent 10 year old girl.  Our priorities in an easy life aren’t always the right ones.  These horrible times have to help us find and live the right priorities.

The Dalia Lama says: "To the extent that suffering awakens our empathy and causes us to connect with others, it can serve as the basis of compassion and love."  We are all suffering now and need to find these connections.  We’re all hurt, but we all have to grow.  That’s one of Liza’s legacies for me; it's what she would want.

Dunn, my brother: I love you, Man

Elizabeth Simms Hollingsworth - my niece Liza

My sister Sophia delivered the eulogy below at the Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church on Saturday July 10, 2010 (also TGP's 73rd birthday).  Those of you that know Sophia should imagine her voice and dance movements at the appropriate places.  It was beautiful, but as Soph said, she had great material.

Elizabeth Simms Hollingsworth

A long name for a little girl.  Liza; that fits better.  Sounds kind of quick, bright even.  That’s the essence of my Liza. 

Quick with a smile.

Quick with a joke.

Quick with a hug.

Quick to say I love you.

Cheery with her funky Chuck Taylors.

Cheery with her love of polka dots.

Cheery with her wonderful drawings.

What a wonderful gift Liza has been in my family’s life.  Absolutely the funniest kid I’ve ever met.  Watch a movie with her.  She will catch the subtle humor and, like her daddy, insert it in a conversation with perfect comedic timing.  Last summer Liza and I bought the movie Monsters Inc.  We had both seen it a million times but we wanted to see it again.  She could mimic the woman/slug thing in it…”I’m watching you Wizouski, always watching….”  Hysterical.  What Liza didn’t remember is that one of my favorite memories of her is when she was about 3 or 4 years old.  Julie, Dunn, Jordan, Liza, Mother, Father, and I met in the North Carolina mountains for a ski weekend. Liza was too young to ski so she and I had spent the day tooling around town – eating ice cream and visiting a cavern.  That evening everyone was piled in one room watching Monsters Inc.  It was around bedtime but the girls really wanted to watch the rest of the movie so the adoring adults broke curfew.  Anyway, at one point, I was lying down on the bed – head at the foot of the bed – and Liza stood in front of me – we were eye to eye.  She starts dancing around right in front of me, shaking her hands and her behind saying “Soph-Soph-Soph-Soph.”  I looked in her beautiful blue eyes and said “Liza, you need to slow down.”  So, at 3, she starts moving in slow motion, still shaking her hands and behind saying “S  O  P  H – S O P H – S O P H.”   Hysterical.  That’s her humor.  That and the 3 Stooges.  And SpongeBob. 

I was fortunate enough to take the girls to visit Piel and her family in Boston a few weeks ago.  We visited Plimouth Plantation.  While there we toured a replica of a family village of the native Americans that inhabited that area 300 odd years ago.  The staff was all native Americans, dressed in native attire, and performing the same tasks their ancestors did.  Liza and I were watching one gentleman (in loin cloth) make a canoe from a truck of a tree.  It was really cool.  This man was answering questions while he worked.  Someone asked him his name.  He said Phillip.  Liza turned to me, with her beautiful blue eyes, and said “Phillip?  Really?”  We had a huge chuckle.

A kind, gentle little girl.  Eager to try new kinds of food.  Eager to make her famous guacamole.  Always ready to go swimming, to learn how to surf, to play the guitar, to sit in her mother’s lap, to climb the mulberry tree, go fishing with her daddy, write a nice note, go on the boat with her nana and papa, put a puzzle together, beat Jordan at something, play with her great friend Olivia, listen to Chicken Heart with her grandfather, draw a picture of us, sing a song with her Grandmother.  The only kid I know that wanted a gift card to Staples for her birthday!  She stole my heart when she admitted that she really does love TAB.  My kitchen is a bright candy apple green based on a little star she made me.  She said she loved that color and thought it would look good in my kitchen.  It’s bright, it’s cheery, it makes me happy.  So much like Liza does.

I tell all my nieces that they are each my favorite niece (My favorite niece named “Jordan” or “Eleanor” or “Caroline” or “Lucy” or “Liza”).  I usually get – “you’re my favorite aunt.” Period.  Liza says “you’re my favorite aunt…named Soph.” 

I am fortunate that I got to spend some time with Liza on Saturday.  We talked about Cartooning Camp.  She loved it!  On Sunday I got to tell her I loved her.  And the best gift I’ve ever received is she told me “I love you too Soph.”  I am the luckiest person in the world.

She loved so many of us.  But mostly her sister Jordan, and her parents Dunn and Julie.  And she knew they loved her more than anything in the world. 

What a phenomenal child.  What a gift.  What a quick, cheery light in our world.  We are lucky to have gotten to spend time with her.

I will love her forever.

As will all of us that knew her.  Here are more pictures.