Here is a copy of a letter I ran across the other day. I'd searched for it before, and I'd long since assumed it was just lost. I received it about four years ago. It's fairly self- explanatory:
Dear Phil,
I'm typing this with just my left hand, so I hope you'll overlook the errors. I'll tell you why in a little while.
We haven't had any contact in so long I hope you even remember me... I sure remember you! Anyway, I'm going to be in Houston next month and I thought I'd see if we could get together for lunch or something. But first there are a few things I need to tell you. In several ways I'm not exactly the same girl I was when I last saw you. I'd better tell you about the accident first.
In January a year ago, as I was crossing the street in Bryan, I was hit by a car. I don't remember a whole lot about it, but they tell me this large bod was tossed quite a distance. In addition to the cuts and bruises, I had 4 broken ribs, a broken leg, a fractured skull and a concussion. But the most severe injury was to my right arm. It was broken in a number of places and severely crushed.
Anyway, they took me to the hospital where I woke up after what they tell me was 6 hours of surgery, all plastered and wired together, with pins and screws everywhere. My mother says the first thing she thought of when she saw me was one of those cartoons of an accident victim all done up in plaster with wires and weights strung all over the room.
Eventually, everything began to go back together, except for my arm. As soon as I was coherent the doctors told me that it was very unlikely that I'd regain normal use of it. The elbow joint had been fused together and there were a number of plates and screws holding everything in place. One guy talked vaguely about reconstructive surgery on my hand "after other things healed up".