I am sorry there’s been radio silence for so long! I’ve just had a lot going on in my life, both good and bad. In a nutshell, for those of you who don’t want the nitty-gritty, I spent a week in the hospital in early December and am still sort of recovering despite it nearly being July; I travelled a ton in February through April; I got engaged; I am currently back home prepping for a wedding, but will be moving across the continent once I’m legally able to. If you’re curious and want the deets, keep reading. There’s a bit of gory medical detail in the first paragraph below, but no photos, don’t worry.
On December 12th, I a bit careless in rushing down the stairs from my kitchen to my room. I slipped and ended up with an open fracture of the tibia and fibula. The two long bones in my lower right leg snapped and burst out of the front of my shin. Yes, it was as awful as it sounds. I was incredibly lucky to have a rod put in the same night, and spent a week in the hospital. I also broke two bones in my left foot and sprained my left ankle, so I was basically bedridden for quite a while. I had surgery and staples and bandages all over my right leg (they went in at the knee so that was knocked out of commission too), and an air cast on my left foot. To top things off, I finally succumbed to my first Covid-19 infection after picking it up in the hospital. Thankfully I was all caught up on my vaccinations so it wasn’t a really bad case. Get your boosters, folks!
It took a lot of physiotherapy and a lot of painkillers, but eventually I was able to get around on crutches. Now I’m mostly not using any aids, but I will keep a cane with me when I go out just to be safe. But standing up and wrestling with the mannequin is still not quite in my wheelhouse, I’m afraid.
While I was dealing with all of this, I flew back down to California. I will say, the airlines and airport staff were all huge sweethearts and very helpful. I was given extra legroom and wheelchair escorts everywhere, and I’m immensely grateful.
Once in California, Keith took me out for a beautiful dinner at the first restaurant we had a real date at, and proposed! Of course I said yes! It was nice to have something happy and hopeful to think about for a bit. In March we went to PAXEast with his job, which was both fun and incredibly stressful. In April I finally met his lovely parents, and that was a much more relaxing trip. But not only was I away from my home here in Montreal, but also away from my home in California. I did manage to get something very cool from PAXEast that I will be reviewing soon, so keep an eye out.
I came back home about a month ago, and we had to say goodbye to one of our kitties not long after that, which threw my motivation for a loop. With all that said, I have some things drafted up and planned for the near future, and I really appreciate anyone who’s stuck around and been so incredibly patient with me! Since I’ve found a beautiful deep teal furisode that actually fits my giant self, hopefully one of those things is a kimono engagement photoshoot, if I can get my other half to participate…
I will try to post as regularly and actively as I can while preparing for a wedding as well as starting the process of moving from Eastern Canada to California. Once I move, I will not have access to my kimono collection for a while, but we’re working towards eventually having a house with space for it. I can’t wait to share the next steps of my life with you all and I hope you’ll come on this crazy next stage with me!
Bebe Taian
CHOKO Blog
Gion Kobu