Train Dislocation: For Bob

 

The top photo is of the train that sits in front of our local Amtrak depot and the bottom one is the one that sat in the past in a different part of town and with my great grandfather perched upon it. There are differences for sure but to my untrained eye, there are a lot of similarities as well.

However, I thought I would share a story about the train above that happened many years ago. My kids were fairly little and for some reason, we stopped to see the train. My kids climbed up part way but were scared to go to the ledge that runs the length of the boiler. To show them there was nothing to be afraid of, I clamored up to the ledge and then started to come back down when disaster struck. I was wearing grippy soled hiking boots at the time and the tread caught in the iron tread steps and as I shifted my body around, my leg stayed put. Something had to give and what gave was my kneecap. It painfully dislocated to one side of my knee. Meanwhile, I was still five feet up and not sure how I was going to get back down. I hung on wincing in pain for a few brief moments and then just let my body succumb to gravity trying to twist in midair so that I landed on the non-dislocated kneecap leg. I was successful.

Somehow I managed to get up and hobble to the car in a lot of discomfort and eventually I even went to see a doctor. Turned out my kneecap had indeed dislocated but despite my suspicions, there were no torn ligaments and everything, albeit a swollen mess, were more or less in the correct spots. The orthopedic told me to wear a brace and not stretch out the tendons holding my kneecap in place for another six months to a year and everything should return back to normal. Indeed, my knee is back to normal.

What isn't back to normal is my sense of youthful vitality and pride. My kids never did climb up to the upper platform. I can't say I blame them now.