A Better Answer Blog

2013 - Thank you for coming to an end!

Dee and her staff took their yearly planning meeting to the sea this fall!

Happy Holidays to y’all!!! I’m Dee Hawkins, owner of A Better Answer Call Centers. Usually I’m the one behind the scenes working to keep everything going, but as this year closes, thankfully, I am promising myself 2014 will be not only be a new year, but a Happy, Healthy, Profitable and most rewarding year.

As I recollect everything that happened to me this year, I could write a book, but instead I’m sharing all my bings and bangs with you all so you can not only laugh but be thankful to yours as well. To start with, on 3 separate occasions, I broke a rib. Falling can be an awful thing – it hurts but I think in spite of the bruising you know you’re going to have and the waiting for the broken rib to heal, finding yourself sprawled out all over the concrete parking lot at a busy doctor’s office with tons of people watching is probably the worst and most embarrassing thing at that moment. And then there was the break leaning way too far over the side of a boat – nice one – and the broken rib thing is occurring to me more quickly. My mind says, “Here we go again!” The next time, tripping over a cement car stop right in front of a very busy restaurant was horrible. Embarrassing for sure, but this time, the concrete has become my worst enemy. Taking a nose dive and inertia pushing me forward, face first was only the beginning on this one. Broken rib, scraped hands, torn clothes, glasses pushed to the side of my face, scraping cheek, nose and eyeball. So, I decided I was just happy I could get up and pour myself into our truck and get to the emergency room. Eye drops, CT scan for the head to make sure cheekbone wasn’t broken (but the rib was) and in general cleaning up all the scrapes and blood. Not a good fall. So now I’m swearing off falling on concrete like this forever.

So after a couple of weeks go by, the eye begins acting up – same as it did right after the fall. So after a visit to the Optholomogist, I did scratch my eye and now have an infection in it – drops to take forever, pain that isn’t going away, and count on a return visit a few more times. Now then, my daughter is getting married mid-summer, so as Mother of the Bride, those of you who have planned for your daughter’s wedding can certainly relate. So much to plan for but we are looking to the day of the wedding with great joy and hopes. Not easy to find time to eat in between trying to visit with everyone – a few minutes with Margo, Marsha, Glynn, Sandie, Joanne, Janet, my buddy John B, another few minutes with Pam and Julie, run to another table and visit with my husband’s family, hop to another table for a quickie visit with my brother and wife, squeeze in a hug with my daughter and new son-in-law, then take in some liquid refreshment and go-go-go! Yeah. Now we can move forward. Next day is brunch with family and out of town friends. Later, BBQ at the house for family and those camping out at our house. There is not an available bed or floor space anywhere. It is so fun to have people you love to chat with and catch up with to make one really feel blessed. Time for bed – but at 2am, I’m having my superman husband check me into the hospital. So much pain in my head, I think I’m going to give it all up – but no, it’s only Shingles and it moved from this giant headache to a rash going into my eye. Oh Joy – what a time we’re having. They refuse to let me out of the hospital unless I promise them I’ll immediately see an Ophthalmologist in order to keep me from losing my eyesight. Oh glory, now they want to take more blood. Just how wonderful is that? Well, they discover I’m critically anemic and wind up trying to give me 2 pints of blood – which I refused – but wound up having an iron infusion and intravenous medicine for shingles before I could leave. House guests stay 4 more days.

So I finally get home refusing to stay in the hospital and wind up sleeping for a couple of days and don’t even realize all my wonderful company have left as their various flights departed. I was so sad to have missed their wonderful company on those days which were going to be so special for me and them just chatting, laughing and catching up. Spent 3 weeks in bed in the dark trying to protect my eyes as the shingles were running all along my eye and eyelid.

So on we go. A short peaceful time. We had family in from Norway early summer, family in from Denmark in the fall. Just wonderful times with all of them. Amazing how close you can get with your family yet living thousands of miles away in just a few weeks seeing each other daily. What wonderful things we did and the stories we told. Thousands of pictures so our faulty minds can remember what fun was had and how blessed we were they came to be with us. We love them all so very much and welcome any and all of them back any time.

So life seems to be looking up as the fall holidays near. Still nursing the eye but healing slowly. Not going blind – but a whole lot of visits to the doctors. And then the unbelievable happens. I get out of bed, my feet go out from under me and I wind up squarely on my bottom! Crunch at 6am! What a way to start the day. Lying on the floor until the ambulance arrives. Good thing I was fully dressed!

My grandson is now awake and asking me “Bestemor (Danish/Norwegian for grandmother) are you going to be ok? Can I do anything for you? Now mind you he’s only 4 and the most darling grandson in the world. Don’t you all have one of those darling grandsons too? He keeps me company and holds my hand and just tries to smile at me. By then my daughter arrives to take him home (sadly for me as he was to stay a couple of days with us … the happiest of times). The ambulance comes but my superman husband, an ex-paramedic, says they need to have more men. I’m a big girl and our bedroom is upstairs. There are 4 vehicles – an ambulance, shift commander truck, and 2 fire trucks – Wow! Living out in the country you don’t expect that much ado for someone who falls. So now I’ve got on a neck collar, back board, IV and 8 people carrying me down the stairs and off to the hospital. Oh boy – something else to happen. At 4pm, I’m now in surgery for a cytoplasty (a “glue” job). The surgeon injects, in common language, a needle with a balloon on the end and they blow air into the balloons until the space between the vertebrae is right and then glue the broken vertebrae – and in my case, it was called an explosive break as I had shattered it on Impact. Well, 25 minutes after they finish up on the glue, it’s dried and the surgery is over. After a 5 days in the hospital I’m out – feels like escaping jail. And back home to start the recovery. Lots of physical therapy (the therapist calls it physical torture) relearning how to move and how to not move – but getting better and better each day. Still can’t bend over if I drop something, so I really watch. Anyway, looks like I’m going to make it back to normal before the end of the year. My new logo song, “I will survive!” Funny about that song, I’ve used that phrase in so many of my seminars.

And then there’s the enormous ice storm that hit Dallas. I can’t leave the house because there’s more than 6” of ice surrounding the house and the road getting to us. In a small community no one is going anywhere and the schools are closed. All we can do is shuffle around the house and watch the outside world deal with it through the television. I’m glad I’m not out in it, but continuing to be housebound is getting to be a bummer. And as always, ice melts some and we can take stock of all the trees that we have lost and all the tons of limbs that have to be cut down – not only here but at the Dallas and Fort Worth offices as well.

Halloween was wonderful – Thanksgiving gives us time to pause, reflect and be thankful for so many things. We look forward to a wonderful Christmas with our family and friends to brighten our spirits. Lights and decorations are up and put us all in a cheerful mood. Friends drop in and we cheerfully lift our glasses and make toasts.

Toasts and giving thanks are wonderful. Our special time to reflect on all who have done so much and we’ve been honored to have them all in our lives. We thank our police, our firemen and tons of others who are working long and hard to protect us. Thousands more we can’t even begin to list them all. Throughout the year we all tend to take for granted those who are always there and we can depend on them each and every time we need them whether we ask for their help or not. Especially this year and looking for next year, I am thankful for the newest member to our family, our son-in-law and another grandbaby coming along in May next year. In looking back this year, my A Better Answer staff have been miracle workers. Yes, I could always be reached by phone or email or even skype – but not more time this year being in the office. Yet my wonderful team kept us all going – unerring and dedicated to doing everything they could to not only keep us going, but working hard, tirelessly and giving great service to all our customers and keeping the peace in operations. All offices worked closely with each other to handle hurricanes, sleet and ice and all the holidays. ABA Telephone Service Representatives, staff and managers shared the common goal – make us the best! All offices earned the ATSI and CAMX Award of Distinction – proving not only to me but to all our customers they are dedicated and love their jobs. I couldn’t have survived this year without each and every single one of them. They have cried with me, laughed with me, prayed for me and we are all planning to not only survive 2013 but to stomp on 2014 with a mighty blow of happiness and joy for everyone. God bless you all and thank you from the bottom of my heart.