The Summer That Wasn't

My 'in home accident' happened three years ago on this date. It was the first Monday after Daughter moved out of her dorm. From this day forward, she could be called "Daughter the Prophet".

We had planned to do a lot of walking together when she moved back home. But that Monday morning three years ago today was unseasonably cold, and I did not want to go walking around a lake in a winter coat on the 20th of May. It just seemed to unspringlike for me.

She looked at me and announced that if I didn't go walk 'today' I would not go walking all summer. Truer words were never spoken. I didn't go walking that day, nor any other day that summer.

Instead, I got this silly idea to finish up some sewing. Lest you think I 'sew', I don't. But, I did have a sewing machine, fabric and some unfinished pillow covers. Monday's project was to make a cover for a child's size wicker rocker. Things were moving along wonderfully. Daughter and I were even singing goofy songs we made up as we went along.

Then, it was time. Time to get the pillow stuffing from the closet. I'm just going to assume that EVERYONE has a really junky closet where you store stuff that doesn't belong in a specific category. I could see the pillow stuffing on the very top shelf, so I moved my handy dandy bench and climbed on. I still couldn't quite reach the bag of pillow stuffing, so I shifted all of my weight onto one foot to reach just a touch higher.

When suddenly, all my plans for the summer came crashing down.

The bench flipped, and slapped me in the leg, which threw my knee out of joint. I know this because before I ever fell, I yelled to my daughter that I had broken my leg. Then came the fall, ON the out of joint leg. Oh, and just to keep it interesting, the shelf tipped, and poured the contents of that top shelf onto my twisted prone body. And, I landed on a lamp. A lamp made from a canning jar full of marbles.

I didn't realize what a quick responder Daughter is. She had taken my pulse, and checked me over before I realize what had happened.

Now, what does one DO when one is wedged in a closet full of glass, marbles, games pieces, magazines and ones leg is pointing in the wrong direction? I seem to remember picking up the bottom part of my leg and sort of throwing it out of the closet.

Daughter called THGGM home from work. By then I had inched my way out of the closet, and was lying on the floor looking under my art table. Daughter took the time to yell at me about not obsessing about picking up all the scraps I found under there, but I just couldn't help myself. It was a mess.

How was I going to get into the car to get to a doctor to have my leg put back together?

THGGM couldn't think of anything either. He called a friend, one who now knows about the messy condition of my art room. It took almost two hours, but I arrived at the emergency room with a wooden bed slat and two bathrobe ties (one yellow, one black and red plaid) tied around my leg.

I'm one of those people who has to go to the bathroom any time anything even remotely stressful is going on. This was MAJORLY stressful, especially since THGGM had just started this job he was called home from, and our health insurance wasn't in effect yet.

So, just one week shy of our 24th wedding anniversary. THGGM and I brought our relationship to a new level, as he wheeled me into the handicapped bathroom at the hospital while I proceeded to, shall we say, void. We have no secrets any more.

They did try to put my leg back together that day. It didn't work. They sent me home with my leg wrapped in a lovely blue contraption made of aluminum rods and velcro.

Thus began the summer that wasn't.

Just a reminder, be careful what you wish for. I had just written in a journal that what I really wanted was to have uninterrupted time to just sit on the couch and read. After about two weeks and a pile of really good books, I thought of other things I would rather be doing. In one of my writing/drawing journals from the time I scribbled this note: Today I was so bored I almost watched "The Partridge Family".

I've recovered from my injuries. But, I'm still paying for it. Not having insurance hurt worse than the actual fall.