Yesterday on my way out the back door of my house,
my foot hit the step just outside the door and slipped out from under me. I did not see that the step was covered in a
thin layer of very slick ice.
It was impossible to catch my fall in any way and I dropped
directly onto my back with the upper part of my back slamming into the concrete
step and taking most of the impact. I
was immediately shocked and scared. Of
course, it all happened very quickly.
And it’s strange because the nature of a fall like that is such that it’s
incredibly surprising. It’s like a
really bad practical joke only it is, initially, not very amusing. It’s later—in the full-body cast at the
hospital—that lots of hilarious laughter about the whole matter can ensue.
I knew I had hit my back very hard and was concerned
that I may have injured myself badly because the impact of the fall was hard. I laid there for a few moments taking some
deep breaths, intentionally moving very slowly.
Again, I was uncertain whether or not I was injured. I wasn’t feeling any immediate pain but I
know sometimes the pain does not happen right away.
Rachel was standing nearby and she asked me a couple
of times, “Should I call mom?”
“No, don’t call her just give me a few moments,” I
said.
“Okay.” And
she went in the house to watch some television.
(Notice that she didn’t panic?)
After a minute, or so, I got to my feet and picked
up my computer which was thrown to the ground in the fall. (Hey, when are they going to come up with
some useful technology like a “keep-from-slipping-on-the-invisible-ice” app?)
I happened to be wearing a winter coat that my friend,
Pam, had recently been teasing me about.
It’s a big, puffy coat that looks like I’m covered in large strips of
marshmallow—except it’s not white, it’s gray.
I’m not sure about this but I think, perhaps, that coat may have
softened the blow to my back.
This morning I woke up thinking, “Okay, let’s see
how things are going to work.”
I feel fine.
I don’t notice any pain in my back.
Thank God!
Time to put on my big marshmallow coat and head out
into the unknown.
No comments:
Post a Comment