I Was His Physical Therapist

Lonnie likes to tell everyone I was his physical therapist after he was seriously injured in Iraq and was transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for his care. The truth is, I didn't know him and wasn't even at Walter Reed when he arrived. He was injured in April 2004. The Army moved me to Washington, DC, to work in physical therapy in May 2006. Little did I know that my future husband was right there in physical therapy when I arrived at the hospital. I started working in the inpatient physical therapy section for the first year or so. I had little contact with the amputee physical therapy section, where Lonnie was rehabilitating, except to borrow the occasional walker or to use their tilt table. I had heard about this Captain Moore guy, but didn't know who people were talking about. When I moved downstairs to the amputee section, I learned who he was. Luckily, he was nearly finished with his rehab as I ethically cannot date patients and have personal rules against dating other therapists' patients when they are still engaged in physical therapy. So, that was that. I met him, we worked together a bit on an educational DVD, attended a conference in Dallas, and went about our own business. Lonnie was nearly retired out of the Army and had a job waiting for him in Virginia. His formal physical therapy was over. Nevertheless, he continued, in his words, to avoid me "like the plague." He thought things would be too awkward if we didn't work out. I told him that wouldn't be the case because I knew we would work out. Still, he was skeptical. So, on a beautiful Friday night in August, a bunch of people from work went out on the town for a co-worker's farewell. Lonnie was there avoiding me as usual. I wasn't going to be a pest, so I left him alone. As fate would have it, though, it was meant to be. We are now engaged to be married next March in Texas, my home state. Lonnie proposed on a Saturday night in April on the flight deck of the Intrepid, the aircraft carrier docked in the Manhattan harbor. Lonnie still insists that I was his therapist, and in some aspects, I am. I just wasn't there from the beginning. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't be where we are today. He is an amazing person and will be a wonderful husband and father!

 

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