Today was the roughest day since my surgery, I bumped my head this week and may have done more damage to soft tissue then I anticipated. I was checked out and everything from the surgery is in the clear. However, I’m writing this tonight because it was overdue.
My family is an absolute blessing and every day I wake up and see my baby son smile, it melts my heart. My girls every morning scream “daddy’s up daddy’s up” and my wife simply smiles and says I love you.
For some this doesn’t get to happen, and I shouldn’t have to explain why.
This surgery was tough, and my first pre-op appointment gave me absolutely no indication that it was going to be anything at this level. Maybe I didn’t listen. The recovery I knew would take long, but being so dependent on everyone including my wife has taken me back.
I needed help, not major but enough to feel worthless at times. Certainly nowhere near losing a limb or severe spinal injuries. So that is my point. I have felt more than ever the strain these warrior’s care takers have taken by seeing the weight on my wife’s shoulder’s as with me she now cares for 4 children. I cannot imagine the struggle nor the strength needed to make it through years of recovery. I’m in 3 weeks, a mere fraction and I simply cannot wrap my mind around what they have been through. This perspective has changed my view and respect on a spiritual level.
These Warriors we serve, they have a much longer struggle then we can ever mentally grasp. Their families go through their own struggles as well. Those mothers, wives, sisters, and girlfriends, are superheroes. To all of you I know well, know that I will pray every day for your recovery, emotionally and psychologically. To those I don’t know well, 4 Wheel to Heal will be there to help, through Off-road Therapy, because truly I swear that we will honor you through what we know best, Dirt, Rock, and Mud. God bless our Troops, God bless their families, God bless America.
-Nathan Ramos, Executive Director.