By Rick Anderson
On a dark and stormy night last January, I made a series of questionable decisions that produced considerable pain — much of it literal.
But it also provided an experience that left me counting my blessings.
Despite the weather and availability of other entertainment options, I decided to drive from Aberdeen to Montesano to watch the Hoquiam-Monte boys basketball game. That, as it developed, was a mistake.
It was raining so hard that I had difficulty seeing highway lanes and briefly contemplated turning back. Not following that instinct was Mistake No. 2.
With the parking lot outside Bo Griffith Memorial Gym full, I parked about a block away. By the time I reached the landing outside the gym, however, my glasses were fully immersed and my raincoat thoroughly drenched. Attempting to hurry under cover proved to be the worst mistake of all.
When my foot caught the edge of one of the steps, I tumbled down the concrete stairs and was unable to get up.
Joining the crowd of onlookers, Hoquiam basketball coach Curtis Eccles expressed the hope that I’d still be able to attend the game. Not quite. I didn’t witness another sporting event for 2 1/2 months.
I had torn a tendon near my left knee. Much to my surprise, the tear was diagnosed as so slight that it would likely heal on its own. I was thus able to avoid surgery.
Although I’m still far from 100 percent physically, I’m moving around fairly decently and intend to follow through with summer vacation plans.
I was lucky. Little did I initially realize that the favorable diagnosis represented only a portion of my good fortune.
The bad news was that I was unable to drive for two months.
Being rendered essentially housebound for that period was about as much fun as it sounds. It proved to be tolerable, however, because of the realization that (a) countless folks were in worse shape and (b) if there’s big money to be made from quoting trivia from “Law and Order” reruns on television, I am now poised to cash in.
It could have been far worse. Since I live alone, have virtually non-existent cooking skills and my relatives weren’t in a position to provide much help, I was looking at either hiring a caregiver or temporarily checking into a care facility.
Neither of those alternatives materialized, thanks to a strong and entirely unexpected support network.
Daily World editorial assistant Karen Barkstrom and her husband, Mike, alternated transporting me on twice-a-week runs to the YMCA of Grays Harbor (where I used the handicapped-accessible family showers), the supermarket and the Aberdeen Post Office, plus the odd doctor’s appointment.
Montesano teacher Teri Zillyett, meanwhile, supplied enough cold food to satisfy my lunch and dinner needs for four or five days per week. A rotating group of past and present Daily World employees filled in the gaps by delivering take-out orders from area restaurants.
The few area restaurants that offer deliveries attached conditions that didn’t make them a good fit for my situation.
But, while sitting in a doctor’s waiting room, I encountered the manager of a popular Harbor restaurant (whom I’m not naming for fear other customers might request similar service). When I joked that he’d have to do without my business for a while, he volunteered to hand-deliver orders to my residence when he got off work.
I took him up on the offer only once, but he was as good as his word.
The Barkstroms, Zillyett, Daily World Editor Doug Barker, Montesano athletic director Tim Trimble, former Aberdeen High basketball coach (and current Montesano assistant) Mike Stoddard and my landlords, Brian and Joy McGregor, were among those who went beyond the call of duty on numerous occasions. Not all renters have positive relationships with their landlords, but it’s a pretty good bet they don’t have landlords the quality of the McGregors.
But, beyond this group, there were probably two dozen or more people who pitched in occasionally to help me out. Some I would consider friends, but most were merely acquaintances, co-workers or news sources for whom I had few personal ties. I owe all of them my eternal gratitude.
In some respects, that type of aid shouldn’t have been that surprising.
Grays Harbor doesn’t get a lot of love from the Puget Sound media. Time and again, however, I’ve seen Harborites step up to the plate to assist those in need — the vast majority far needier that I was.
Groups such as Greater Grays Harbor probably wouldn’t get much mileage out of a slogan such as, “Grays Harbor: A great place to convalesce.” But as my former boss John Hughes was fond of saying, it has the added advantage of being true.
Particularly it you have the right support network.
Rick Anderson is a retired Daily World sports editor.
