Opinion: Portales parade 'better than any medicine'

Of all the adaptations to tradition we humans have made in these past few months, I'll hazard a guess that one we may hold on to is the drive-by parade.

These impromptu horn-honking, poster-waving lineups of cars, trucks, fire engines, baby strollers - you name it - have been used to celebrate graduations, retirements, birthdays, and anniversaries.

But for greatest emotional impact, I'd have to nominate one that took place on Cherry Street in Portales on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend.

That's the day a much-loved member of the community was welcomed back home for only his second visit to his hometown since he was whisked away by helicopter in mid-December after suffering a stroke that almost took his life.

Ask John Bridges' family, his friends, and his co-workers at Roosevelt General Hospital, and they'd likely tell you he was the last guy they would have expected to see collapse in the hallway at the hospital in the middle of a routine workday on Dec. 13, 2019.

This is, after all, a man who holds a sixth-degree black belt in taekwondo.

He won the tombstone race at the Old Fort Days in Fort Sumner so many times that for a while the event had a "Bridges Rule" named for him. It prohibited one person from dominating the race with multiple wins.

Before he started his current job as chief of ancillary and support services at RGH, Bridges worked for more than two decades at the Portales Fire Department, retiring as chief in 2009.

His strong-man background may have been the most valuable asset he had that day as his RGH colleagues quickly diagnosed him with a massive stroke, administered clot-busting medication, and put him on a helicopter to Lubbock.

Two days later, Julie Bridges (who's been married to John for 21 years) said her husband underwent a craniotomy to remove part of his skull because of significant brain swelling.

"Without that surgery," she said, "his brain would have herniated and he would have died."

After a lengthy hospitalization, Bridges was moved to Trustpoint Rehabilitation Hospital in Lubbock for follow-up care and, three weeks ago, he was transferred to Moody Neurorehabilitation Institute - a Lubbock facility that specializes in brain injury and stroke rehab, Julie said.

The best perk of moving to Moody: Now in his sixth month of recovery, John Bridges finally received that longed-for "get out of jail free" card and can now make an occasional day visit to the home he and Julie share in Portales.

"It is better than any medicine or rehab I've received so far," John said.

On the afternoon of May 30, the Bridges were treated to a welcome home drive-by parade, courtesy of John's current and former colleagues from the Portales Fire Department and Roosevelt General Hospital, members from their Central Christian Church family, and a host of neighbors and friends.

Kaye Green, chief executive officer at RGH, was one of the first to arrive.

"Being part of the parade was extremely special," Green said. "We were all so excited to see John again after all these months and show him how much we missed him."

Green describes Bridges as "the heart and soul of RGH."

"He's done so much for the hospital and all the staff here," she said. "It was our turn to show up in a big way for him."

Debbie Lambirth is Green's executive assistant at RGH, so she's a colleague of Bridges' as well as his across-the-street neighbor.

When I asked her about John's job title - because I wasn't sure what a "chief of ancillary and support services" does - Lambirth made it easy.

"He's our everything," she said.

Bridges explained that "everything" translates to this. He's a member of the executive leadership group, administratively over radiology, laboratory, dietary, environmental services, plant operations and maintenance, and also leads safety, security and emergency preparedness.

Phew.

Green said when she was hired as the CEO at RGH three years ago, Bridges immediately became her "right-hand man."

"If I needed a project or a random task accomplished that didn't fall into any else's purview at RGH," she said, "I gave it to John and always knew it would get done, correctly, and on time."

On his wide shady front porch on the afternoon of the parade, John Bridges was surrounded by his wife, his children, his grandchildren, and a frisky puppy who joined the family this spring.

A steady stream of vehicles crawled past and Bridges was honked at, waved at, shouted to, and cheered by dozens of supporters who hadn't been able to see him in person since coronavirus restrictions closed his treatment facilities to visitors.

Hand-lettered neon poster boards offered encouraging messages: "Welcome home!" "We love you!" "You've got this - get well soon." "Healing doesn't mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls your life."

T.J. Cathey, current chief of the Portales Fire Department, came up on the porch to present his former boss with a firefighter's ax inscribed with the PFD insignia and the names of all of Bridges' former colleagues.

"That was such an emotional time for me," Bridges said later. "That was such a special gesture and I feel so honored."

John and Julie Bridges both expressed appreciation to their hometown for the ongoing support they have received during this season of their lives.

"I can't explain how much love we have felt over these last six months," John said. "God has really used his people to love, support, pray, and care for us and we can't put into words how much that has meant."

Bridges said he has received "literally hundreds of cards" over the past several months, which Julie hung on ribbons to decorate the walls at Trustpoint during his time there.

"Their employees would always comment on how I received more mail than they'd ever seen," Bridges said. "One person said, 'You must be a from a small town.' I replied, 'How did you know?' She said, 'Because small towns rally around people like no other.'"

Bridges hopes to be home "for good" in another eight-to-12 weeks.

He's not the only one who can't wait.

"I'm so ready for the simple things again," Julie said, "like having dinner, going to church together, and just doing everyday things together that we haven't been able to do."

And who knows? Maybe another parade.

Because parades are something we're getting good at, and when John Bridges makes it home to stay, that's going to be a day worth celebrating.

Betty Williamson is honking, waving, and cheering for the Bridges family. Reach her at:

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