Author: Mary.Buford.Hitz

Once Eliza was cleared to be driven to Agnes Schrider’s office for her physical therapy treatments, I had more and more time on my hands; first, while she was being treated, and then later while she was doing longer and longer workouts.
Our yellow lab Ellie-Belle traveled with us, and once I had dropped Eliza off we’d head out to walk the back roads and trails of that part of Nelson County.

That fall was particularly beautiful and lingered on into December, the trees hanging on to their clothing of russet, gold, burnt orange and vivid red until the effort became too much for them. The sun, with its long fall shadows and the windless, soft atmosphere made these walks with Ellie my introduction to the seductive beauty of the county.

As you travel south along Rte. 151 you are skirting mountains to your west, but on the other side of the road there is a broad, flat, alluvial plain that stretches across to the Rockfish River. The plain is used mainly for grazing cows, and the hay that is taken from it is rolled into big bales for winter feed.

In several places there are roads that loop off of Rte. 151, cross the plain, run parallel to the river for a bit, and then curve back to Rte. 151. I started by exploring these loops, sharing the road with the occasional farm tractor or car.

There is practically no place in the Rockfish Valley section of Nelson where mountains are not front and center of your view. They are big, by Virginia standards, and the valley has its own smaller forested bumps that repeat the theme. Wintergreen is a resort that has both a valley and a mountain development. It is a big tax boost for the county and by in large has been carried out in good taste, with the terrible exception of high rise condo units that look like ugly teeth on the exposed ridge of the mountain village.

When wait times got longer I explored the Wintergreen trails, also stunning in their beauty and variety. Slowly, without even recognizing that it was happening, the shadow of Eliza’s accident lifted from me, coaxed by the world-class beauty to which those walks exposed me. I came to know that Eliza would fully recover, despite the two steps backward that seemed to accompany every step forward, and to feel deep gratitude for the superb treatment she was receiving.

Albemarle County, adjacent to Nelson, is also very beautiful, but it is a tamed, domesticated beauty of groomed land and smaller mountains. It is a huge county, but there is not much that you would call “backwoods” in Albemarle. Nelson is different, and the people who live there know it and value it. You can find plenty of backwoods in Nelson.

Although relatives of patients in the ICU are supposed to leave at night, when they found that I was going to sleep in the waiting room they let me stay next to Eliza in the special chairs that recline into a lying down position (almost).

We admired the nurses in the ICU as much as than the doctors, and came to know them personally and to deeply appreciate the care they took with Eliza, especially a young woman with five children named Teresa. We knew their shifts, and looked forward to seeing them again, as Eliza’s stay in the ICU was ten days long.

The nurses also welcomed us for a sad reason; they said it was so seldom that a patient in the ICU had an intact family to care for them.

I can’t remember when Eliza was brought out of her induced coma, but it was fairly quickly. Less quickly she reverted to her normal size and her face became recognizable. However she was still on a strong dosage of morphine and spent much of the time asleep.

Once Eliza was out of danger, my nephew and his wife, who live in Charlottesville, set up a comfy spot for us in their attic. It was such a welcoming feeling, after a long day at the hospital, to be with them instead of in a hotel.

Fred had to prepare for a new job teaching at Princeton, so my lifelong friend, Rosalie, came down from Boston and settled into my routine with me.

It was a great day when Eliza was moved out of the ICU and onto the orthopedic floor, where she stayed another ten days. One day while there, an officious intern came making rounds and declared that Eliza must be fitted with a sling (in addition to all her other medical “outfits”) to make her collarbone heal correctly. The nurse objected that it was unnecessary and would be uncomfortable but he persisted, had it brought in and adjusted it on Eliza. He had not been out of the room a minute before the nurse, a seasoned veteran, took it off and threw it in the closet!

Taking Eliza home to a family place on Afton Mountain was terrifying, even though it was done in an ambulance with great care. Her hospital bed took the place of the dining room table. She was still on morphine, which helped with pain but had the downside of bringing on a negative attitude and nightmares. Plus, the halo she wore was both painful and restricting.

Eliza was having a tough time when into her life came Agnes Schrider, assigned to be Eliza’s physical therapist. Relentlessly positive, funny and tough, Agnes picked up immediately that Eliza had hit bottom. Over the next three months Agnes brought her back to the land of the living; first coming to us, and then with us coming to her at her office right off of Rte. 151 on the road to Wintergreen in Nelson County.

TO BE CONTINUED