Introduction
If you read the articles from 3/21/2021 and 3/29/2021, you will understand one purpose for this entry. It serves as an addendum to those articles. In them, I forgot to include my “driving school” adventure!
The main purpose of this article, however, is to give two friends, husband and wife, an opportunity to laugh and be encouraged. The husband will venture into his “driving school” experience on Tuesday, two days from today.
I also hope that you, dear reader, enjoy a good laugh! My “driving school” experience on Thursday, 11/10/2026, was fun! Well, my still-recovering body didn't enjoy the experience as well as my mind did.
Before the funny conclusion, I pause on a sad note. The sad note honors the doctor who was in charge of my care, while I was a patient at the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center in Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. First, however, I was a patient at the University of Tennessee Medical Center from 3/29/2016 to 4/19/2016, when I was transferred by ambulance to the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center. I was a patient there from 4/19/2016 until my discharge to home on 5/4/2016. “May the Fourth be with you” is how I remember my discharge date.
My 11/10/2016 Driving School
The previously cited articles from 3/21/2021 and 3/29/2021 include several details about my “bionic journey,” as I call it. Forgetting to include my “driving school” in those articles, I do so now. First, however, I will provide the background.
Background
Dr. Robert Chironna was in charge of my medical care at the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center. He visited my room every morning at about 7 AM, even on most weekends. Mrs. Appalachian Irishman stayed with me day and night, sleeping on the vacant bed beside mine in the private room. Thanks, dear, for tending to me! Dr. Chironna stayed about ten or fifteen minutes with us every morning. He was congenial, mild-mannered, and very intelligent. He and I shared similar senses of humor. His was more subdued, but he liked mine. Dr. Chironna's purpose was to monitor and oversee the progress of my recovery.
After my discharge to home, I had four appointments with Dr. Chironna at his office (6/27/2016, 7/25/2016, 10/25/2016, and 12/5/2016). My wife drove me to all but the last one. We bought my 2006 Nissan Frontier on 11/25/2016. I drove myself to my final appointment on 12/5/2016, when Dr. Chironna “released” me to return to work. I returned to work on 12/19/2016. I did not need a medical “release” to work. I am a free man in a once-free-and-great nation. I could have changed jobs. My state employer required the “release.” I jumped through the bureaucratic hoops, since I didn't want to change jobs.
During my 10/25/2021 appointment, Dr. Chironna suggested (as he could not require) that I attend “driving school.” Pondering the idea, I decided that “driving school” would come in handy if, God forbid, I was in another accident, in which the guilty driver (not me) had an attorney who could find out that I had a concussion on 3/29/2016, when I almost died.
Driving School
Thursday, 11/10/2016, was the 29th birthday celebration for our niece, the daughter of my wife's sister. It was also my day for “driving school!” In our 2008 Civic, Mrs. Appalachian Irishman drove me to Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center. The total time from home, at the medical center, for my highway driving test, and return home took from about 11:30 AM to 4:30 PM. We met Nicole White, an Occupational Therapist / Driver Rehabilitation Therapist. The Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center has a Comprehensive Driving Program there.
Nicole and I understood and liked each other instantly! Our senses of humor matched perfectly! I hope that she is doing well. I haven't seen or communicated with her since that day.
First, I had to play a game for a little while. Nicole and my wife watched me as I used my “bionic” left arm and right arm to punch little red dots on a board that hung on a wall. It was like playing whack-a-mole! It was a test to check my visual acuity and peripheral vision.
I passed with a 100% score! My damaged left eye had not been seeing double for months! Nicole and my wife enjoyed my jokes as I whacked those moles!
Next, I had to play a gas and brake pedals game! While seated, I watched red and green lights that told me when to press either the fake gas or brake pedals. The gas pedal didn't take me anywhere, and the brake pedal didn't stop me at any point. It was some type of test. My “bionic” right knee and right foot had no problems! I did not have to sit too long. That was good. To this day, I do not like to sit too long.
Finally, I had to drive a fairly well-maintained but older passenger van on a road trip. Nicole rode shotgun. I drove the van for about an hour and a half. We went to west Knoxville and back a couple of times, taking various side roads each time. At some point, Nicole knew that I could drive well. She relaxed and enjoyed the ride! My left shoulder, right knee, and right foot suffered but endured. My left shoulder “talked to me loudly” every time that I turned my head left to look out the window. I, however, passed “driving school” with flying colors! I knew that I could drive well. I didn't need “driving school.” I did it anyway. My wife and I were very glad to get back home. She was quite bored while waiting during my 1.5-hour driving test. My “bionic” joints and related muscle groups had endured enough. I passed the “driving school.” It was done. Once home, Molly, our “old puppy,” was glad to see us!
My Friend's Upcoming Driving School on 7/13/2021
To my dear friend and brother in Christ, I know that you will read this article. I hope that reading it gives your wife and you a few laughs and offers encouragement!
Don't concern yourself with “driving school!” You will do well! I hope that you get Nicole White at Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center! If you do, tell her that I said hello! Keep getting better, day by day, by God's grace and your stubborn will! I'm still doing so.
By the way, I hope that you share a few photographs of your “driving school!” Neither my wife nor I took photographs of mine. My photographs are only in my mind.
Dr. Robert Chironna
During my last appointment with Dr. Robert Chironna on 12/5/2016, we conversed on several religious and philosophical topics, aside from the mundane topic of my ongoing recovery. I told him about my still unpublished and incomplete book, Light at the End of the Tunnel. He requested an autographed copy, once I publish it. I promised and remembered.
I gave Dr. Chironna my notes since my 10/25/2016 visit to his office, which he read. Those notes included the following:
Spiritual: Since college, I have pondered, written, and spoken on the “problem of evil.” I have continued to do so, as it relates to my life situation. God is still there, and he is good. He has saved me by his grace, and he has used me in his service. The providence of God has been a specific focus point of my thoughts and writings. God either acts or does not act providentially, according to his will. We may never know why God acts or does not act in providence in certain situations. (For example, slowing down or speeding up the driver who failed to yield to my right of way by even five seconds would have kept this from happening to me.) We, however, trust in him, for he knows the everlasting result of our continuing faith.
Sadly, by doing research for this article, I learned yesterday that Dr. Robert Lawrence Chironna, at age 65, went home on December 14, 2017. I had seen him for the last time on 12/5/2016. My sadness yesterday was overcome with joy! Dr. Chironna has met my mother and father, as well as so many others! He is enjoying his everlasting home! His legacy continues. This final segment before the conclusion is written in his honor. Dr. Chironna does not need my book once I publish it. He is enjoying the bliss of everlasting life! I will see him again.
Conclusion
The light at the end of the tunnel calls each of us home eventually. Will home be heaven? I hope so! The other option will be rather hot and unpleasant!
School yourself in life. Learn how to drive to the correct everlasting home! The Contact Form on this website is how you may reach me, if you would like to converse privately by email.
Let's end on a funny note, shall we? We shall! Today, 7/11/2021, is 7-Eleven Day! 7-Eleven will give us one free small Slurpee any day in July! I haven't had a Slurpee in decades! Who knows? I may hunt me a Slurpee this month. I still have time!
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