Harrison House Museum

Thanks to cousin Eve Sproat-Traill for this link to Harrison House Museum & Barn. It’s always exciting for me to find historical links to the family tree. It helps make history come alive knowing that my ancestors were part of it.

Nathaniel Harrison, who built the house in 1724, was the son of my 9th great-grandparents, Ensign Thomas Harrison and Dorothy Thompson. His elder brother, Lieutenant Thomas Harrison, is my 8th great-grandfather.

Daniel Warren

Daniel Warren Homestead - 1715

The Daniel Warren Homestead, c.1715

I’d like to thank my cousin, Eve Sproat-Traill for posting this link on Facebook. It is always a pleasure to read accounts of my ancestors.

The article prompted me to do some research so I found my information from Henry Bonds’ genealogies and history of Watertown and began putting together the data linking my 5th Great-grandfather, Oliver R. Warren back to John Warren the Emigrant (my 10th Great-grandfather) who arrived in America in 1630. The ancestry goes back to the time of William the Conqueror and I’m hoping to explore that sometime.

Some time ago I’d found some records held by the DAR that linked Oliver with his father, Asa Warren and his second son Daniel, information I’d been seeking for quite a while.

You Really Can’t Go Back

End of Oakwood, looking East

Last week I joined the Township Park group on Facebook and got involved in some of the discussion there. I pulled up the old neighborhood on Google maps and in the satellite view, I recognized almost nothing. I had to enter the address to find the location of the old house. What struck me from the aerial view was the amount of erosion that had taken place. I could see both ends of Lake Road, one at the park and the other at Sunset Point and I could picture where the road had once been, connecting those ends. The Google view of the neighborhood did not prepare me for the view from the ground.

This past weekend I made the trip up to Footville and, on the way, made a detour into Painesville to see the old neighborhood. After I got off the freeway, I went down Lindmar Drive to see my grandparents’ old house. I don’t think it’s there any more. The street looked nothing like it did in my youth. Back then it was more open and spacious. Now it seems overgrown with shade trees and the houses are all packed together. I almost wasn’t sure if I was on the right street but the church at the corner of Lindmar and Chestnut told me I was.

Painesville is like an alien world to me now. So much has changed since my youth there. I’ve noticed many changes over the years as I’ve passed through or visited the library. It is not the same city.

I made my way to the neighborhood where I grew up. I wasn’t ready for what I found. The streets had the same names and were laid out the same but that’s all they had in common with my memories. Oakwood Boulevard seemed much shorter, I was at Shady Lane/Kenilworth before I knew it. I found my old address but the house where I grew up and even the garage were gone, replaced by newer, uglier structures. I felt as if all the love and labor my father had put into them was for naught. It was much the same for the whole neighborhood. All that still existed from my youth there were my memories.

Then I ventured to the park. Of course, it had changed too but in a nicer way, at least above the lake. I found that Lake Metroparks had taken it over and expanded the ball fields and built a community center. I walked down the walkway to “the beach,” or rather where there was once a beach. One of the old stone piers is still there but now there are just large blocks of stone placed along the shore in a attempt to hold back the erosion.

After the park, I traced my way back through the neighborhood,then across to Sunset Point which, like Township Park, was eerily dark and unfamiliar. The only familiar structure I saw was Lester’s gas station, still standing but long abandoned. The new developments along Lake Road and Bacon Road seemed bright and cheery in stark contrast to the old neighborhoods they border.

Cleveland Burial Records Online

I found an article about the Cleveland City Cemeteries Index in Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter today. I only found five Romigs in the index. Three of them were young children who may or may not be related in some way.

Two Romigs of interest I found were Charles and Auguste Romig. My great-grandparents, Frederick and Hulda and their children resided in their home when they moved to Cleveland from Illinois. My great-grandfather gave their address as his residence in his immigration paperwork. I’ve long suspected that Frederick and Charles might be related but I haven’t been able to find anything to substantiate it.

Cemetery	Interment	Name	Age	Sex
Monroe Street	Aug 25, 1902	Romig, Baby		M
Scranton Road	Jul 29, 1911	Romig, Auguste Mrs
Scranton Road	May 25, 1914	Romig, Chas	57y
Woodland	Dec 15, 1902	Romig, Harry	3y	M
Brookmere	Jul 17, 1901	Romig, Henry	4m	M

I’ll be adding the link to this index to my genealogy page shortly.

Penultimate Day 2010

Once again, it is the penultimate day of 2010, time to reflect upon the past year and look forward to the coming year.

Without a doubt, 2010 was much better than 2009 which absolutely sucked. The Chapter 13 was discharged early and I found long-term steady work. Those made the year better without anything else.

My yoga practice developed over the year through various workshops, special events and a variety of classes. Despite all this, my home practice did not grow and actually dwindled. I’ve set an intention to make my home yoga practice somewhat a a daily ritual.

Around mid-year, I finally reached my target weight of 12 stone (168 pounds) after about two years of carb counting. I’ve been pretty good at maintaining around 170 though it went up a bit during the holidays. I’m considering setting a new, lower target weight which I believe will be beneficial as my current weight is still a tad overweight for my height and frame.

In late September I discovered the hernia and had the surgery to repair it in late October. About a month later I was off the lifting and exercise restrictions and pretty much able to return to my normal routine. Now, two months after the surgery, I’m back into my former yoga practice and feeling great. The swelling and hardness in the area is almost completely gone now. Soon the only reminder of it will be the scar and that probably won’t be that noticeable under the hair.

This is a short post since I’ve already discussed these events at length. I’m optimistic about 2011. If things in my life keep on their present course, the year looks like it will be pretty good.

Post Surgery Update

I’m recovering pretty well from the hernia surgery. In my follow-up appointment with the surgeon on 5 November, he said I was healing well. He mentioned that there was more swelling in the area than he had expected but that was good because it meant that my body figured out it couldn’t reject the mesh so it was forming scar tissue around it. He increased my lifting restriction to 25 pounds and that ended yesterday. He also said I could continue with my yoga practice following the cautions I’d been following.

Even with the medical restrictions lifted I don’t feel that I’m even 90 percent yet. The swelling has gone down but I can still feel some hardness beneath the incision site. I was feeling some pain just above the site last week. I don’t know if it was related to the hernia but it affected my mobility a bit.

I got the hole drilled into my jawbone for the implant on the 12th and had the stitches removed earlier this week. The young lady who removed them said there was still a little tenderness but it was healing well. I’ve been putting my body through too much lately.

I really haven’t gotten back into my yoga practice to the degree that I’d hoped. I attempted to do more in the beginner’s class I attend with Abigail and quickly realized that I wasn’t up to it. There was some discomfort in the area of the surgery but more alarming was the diminished core strength. Right now the intermediate classes would thoroughly kick my ass. I haven’t done anything at home really due to other things I’ve got going on. I need to get my ass back on the mat.

The new position at the hospital is working out well so far. I’m keeping busy most days but I’m keeping up with the work orders and the administrative crap. I’m doing well but it could easily become overwhelming. I don’t know if they’re planning to hire another person to work with me but it would be nice.

Hernia Surgery

Yesterday I underwent surgery to fix an inguinal hernia on my right side. Aside from the current post-surgery pain and discomfort the overall experience was good from my initial appointment to my release from the hospital. The care was excellent. Everyone I dealt with at the Wright-Patterson Medical Center was great, the surgeon, the anesthesiologists, the residents, the nurses, everyone. They kept me informed as to what they were doing and what they were going to do, double and triple checking to ensure everything was going to plan. I truly felt like I was more than just a patient, I was actively involved (as much as I could possibly be).

At the initial consultation, the surgeon explained the various options. The agreed upon solution was to make a small incision, push the hernia back in place, attach a mesh patch over the muscle and glue the incision back together. He told me that the older method of stretching and stitching the muscle over the hernia weakened the muscle and was more likely to fail over time. The mesh method has a much higher success rate.

I don’t a thing between being rolled into OR #6 and waking up in the APU. But that’s how it was supposed to be. Tina and I spent most of the afternoon in the APU. Nurses were in and out checking on me, walking me walk around the room and bringing me juice and water. I had to pee before they’d release me. I finally peed around 3:30. I wasn’t feeling the urge but I decided I’d give it a try. The anesthesia still hadn’t completely worn off so maybe that dulled the sensation. While Tina got the car, a nurse brought in a wheelchair and rolled me out to the main entrance.

Once at home, I made myself as comfortable as I could on the couch while Tina fixed me some soup and a sandwich. I was famished as all I’d had eaten or drunk since the night before was a few graham crackers, juice and water in the APU. Along with my dinner I took my regimen of pills.

Around 7 PM I decided I should just go to bed and try to get some rest. I slept some, waking several times to use the bathroom. I took another dose of Vicodin around 11:30 and got up again around 3:30 at which time I changed from my sweats to a pair of shorts and a light T-shirt. That felt so much more comfortable. I also discovered that bending my right leg while lying down felt better. It probably relieved some of the pressure on the abdominal muscles.

According to the information on the bottle, it looks as though I’ll be taking the stool softeners for 9 months. I certainly hope I’ll be back to my normal routine long before then. No one has really given me much information as to my recovery time. I’ll see the surgeon again on November 5th and I’m sure we’ll discuss that. I want to get back into my yoga routine as soon as I can but I’m not going to rush into it and cause a more serious problem. I’ll work on pranayama (breathing) and meditation with some gentle restorative postures when I feel up to it. I’ll be sure to check with my doctor and my guru first.

I’ll be staying home all week. My contract at Good Samaritan is up today and I step into my new position there on the first of the month. It’s sort of a vacation without pay but it does give me some time to recover and maybe get some light tasks done.

I’m not sure what brought on the hernia. The only recent heavy lifting I can recall was moving Mandy’s “sentimental rocks” at the end of August. They were too heavy to lift so Adam and I rolled them up a ramp into the truck. I didn’t notice the hernia until near the end of September. That might have been it, not that it really matters. I’m hoping that I can recover quickly enough to get back into my yoga and accomplish a bathroom remodeling project this winter. We’ll see how it goes.

Technorati Tags: hernia,recovery,surgery,yoga