We had our Women’s Retreat this past weekend (as Tim already mentioned in his awesome Saturday Blog). I took exactly TWO pictures all day Friday and NONE on Saturday. My goodness, if Tim hadn’t covered for me on Saturday I would have actually had a lapse in my Project 365. Yikes! We wouldn’t want that to happen.
One of the pictures from Friday is of me and a sweet friend, Beckie. I posted a blog about Beckie WAY back at the beginning of my Project 365 adventure. She makes another appearance in today’s post. So the picture is from Friday (keeping up with the Project 365) but the story of this blog is from today (clear as mud?).
I just got off the phone with Beckie. She was checking to make sure I was safe and sound and in one piece. You see, in a moment of utter grace and poise, I fell backwards in the church parking lot this afternoon and fell and conked my head.
Yes, it was a priceless moment that should have been captured on film, but thankfully WAS NOT!! I was in the parking lot visiting with Beckie and some other friends. I was standing up against the curb and started to take a step back. As soon as I did so, I felt the edge of the curb and knew there was no way I could lift my feet up and over it or stop myself from falling. I didn’t have time to shift around and stop the motion in action. There wasn’t anything to grab on to so DOWN I went.
Ouch! I landed first on my bottom (ah, nice cushion there) and then banged my head hard on the sidewalk. I was thankful I didn’t fall the other way – hate to crack teeth or bang noses.
Everyone was terribly solicitous. They helped me into Beckie’s car and made me sit down and rest. They looked at my pupils and gave me instructions about concussions and the dangers of falling asleep. It was quite an impressive crowd – the worship pastor was there, the youth pastor came by, two of the church secretaries hurried to help (one being the wife of the junior high/Small group pastor) and the AWANA director.
Here’s a sample of the conversation Beckie and I had:
Beckie: Kathy, are you all right? Oh my goodness, you really hit the ground hard.
Kathy: Yes, I heard it too.
Okay, I think I would have had me sit down for a little bit at that point as well. “Kathy, we are very glad you heard the noise of your own head smashing the sidewalk, how about you rest for a few minutes before driving your children around town.”
Beckie and I at the Women’s Retreat, Friday night.
I took the ice they graciously provided and then declared myself well enough to drive home. I was a little shaky/sore but not dizzy or light headed feeling. I got in the car and immediately burst into tears.
What is that all about??? Am I too proud or self-contained to cry in front of other people? Perhaps. Maybe I was afraid they would cosset me too much and I wouldn’t be able to stop crying. The poor children, they were awfully worried to see me crying.
Rachel: Mom, you don’t ever cry. How come you don’t cry more? Are you okay?
Daniel: Mom, it makes me scared and worried when you get hurt.
Thankfully I have a hugely blessed life and am most often happy and cheerful and healthy. It shakes everyone up (including me) to have Mom (Rock and Stable Force/Manager of the Family) fall down.
She looks poised and confident but this gal is one good push from falling flat on her backside.
By the time I got home, the tears had stopped and I was feeling better (although still very tender in the noggin). One of the women called me 10 minutes later, checking to be sure I was okay. Wasn’t that kind.
It reminds me how much we have been loved and cared for by the people of our church. When Daniel had his appendix out last year we were thoroughly covered in prayer, blessed with meals, and visited by many members of our church family. Daniel got so many gifts that I think some of the other children wondered if they couldn’t do without their appendixes (appendices?) as well.
I am thankful for friends and for a hard head that keeps me safe.
I’ll close with a piece of Tim’s prayer this evening:
“Thank You, Lord, that Kathy is so hard headed she survived her fall this afternoon.”
Kathy
Oh how terrible. I’m so glad you weren’t seriously injured, broken bones or anything. God was taking care of you. But it is good to be reminded once in awhile of how frail we really are. It is humbling to realize that we aren’t really as in control as we think we are. Take heed lest ye fall.
I’m also glad that the fall was purely physical. When I saw the headline, I had to anxiously read through the entry to assure myself that this was not a fall from grace so to speak.
Oh Kathy…I cry too, always AFTER something happens and it totally shakes my family up. Your husband is a gem. What a sweet prayer he offered up for you! {g} ~Yvonne
Tim’s hard headed prayer is SO funny. I can see you guys are a LOT like us.. I can imagine my dh saying something similar. I’m also one that doesn’t cry much.. never have.. not even when pregnant and so my kids think someone has DIED or there is something terribly wrong if I’m found crying.
All my sympathetic prayers aside, it is scary when a grown-up falls. When I walked in the front door last night, the kids rushed to tell me that Kathy had fallen. Since I hadn’t yet seen her, I was rather worried. It made me remember the Christmas Eve ten years ago, when Kathy was pregnant with Daniel and she fell on our front walkway, breaking her ankle rather severely. Visions of Emergency Rooms danced in my head, but happily, there was my Sweetie, safe and (reasonably) sound in the kitchen, making supper. I looked at her noggin and admired the bump, checked her pupils and clucked sympathetically while I hugged her.
Sometimes when we are sitting together in the family room, I will jump up and go to the garage or bathroom, such that I walk past her chair. I have learned that she likes me to touch her affectionately as I walk by, and so (when I remember) I gently touch her head or shoulder. Last night as I headed to the bathroom to take out my contacts, she flinched in ‘her’ chair and cried out, “Don’t touch my head!” Hopefully she will heal quickly.
Kathy,
I’m so glad you are OK!!
Jennifer
Glad to know there are others who cry AFTER the fact.
Carl – although I try to keep this blog very ‘real,’ I don’t know if I would post a fall from grace. Ha!
Feeling fine today, thankfully. Head and bottom still sore but slept great.
Cindy – yes, those husbands can be VERY amusing when they want to be.
I am so not a crier. My mom and I always tease each other a little bit, “did you cry?” we’ll ask, knowing we not good criers. Ah well, can’t do it all.
Glad you are o.k. It IS scary to children to have Mom fall….we laughed yesterday when Zander remembered a fall I took last spring at the park and told everyone about it again.
Loved Tim’s prayer.
Where or where do my comments go……
Oh my, Kathy! If you heard the thump, that must have really hurt. I am a crier, which is rather humorous, because I am not a whimpy kind of person…was always a tom-boy. I grew up with one older sister and three brothers very close in age, so no cry-babies allowed.
Most of my tears are emotional these days…just love those late 40+ years….NOT!
I took a rather nasty fall on the stairs last fall and cried. The Littles didn’t know what to make of it, but Bessie and Gabe were all lovey, bringing me ice and something to drink and pillows and blankets and “are you all right” over and over.
I’m glad you are recovered and there was no lasting damage.
Tim, you are a wonderful hubby!
Kathy!
So glad you are OK!
Dorothy
De’Etta – funny what the children remember, isn’t it. I don’t think Joshua or Rachel particularly remember that Christmas Eve when I fell and broke my leg. It was terrible going through something so painful and traumatic while pregnant. I was torn between “don’t hurt my baby” and “STOP this pain now!!!” Ha!
Ouch, ouch, ouch, that sounds so painful. Glad you are ok now.
Ouch, Kathy, that sounds quite awful. Thank God you are okay. That stuff can be so unnerving–both to us as adults and to the little kids.