I am absolutely positive during the next year when Eric is gone we will face moments of crisis like today. Today was our first really warm and sunny spring day reaching almost eighty degrees. With warm weather comes increased activity. I had worked on a few spring cleaning things, been outside and played with the dogs a number of times, gone to the grocery store and purchased our Easter ham, and when afternoon rolled around and I decided to jump in the shower to get an early start on getting ready for work.
Today is Wednesday. It follows Tuesday. It actually does this every week for everybody. But for my youngest son, Ayden, every Wednesday is payday. He has delivered papers on Tuesday since he was 8 years old. He started with a small 43 paper route and now delivers 300 papers every Tuesday. He is able to do this because he is homeschooled and it is a part of his education. This winter has been particularly rough during delivering with the mountains of snow and we have all pitched in to give him a hand at times. But last week and this week he has been able to ride his bike. Well, his old beater bike tires didn't survive the winter well. He used his good RAGBRAI bike last week and we fixed the tire on the beater bike. Lucky for him his birthday was Saturday. So Friday we took him to buy a new romp-around-town Mongoose bike. Being his usual self, he is very picky about his new bike. And after much discussion and parking it in the living room, we decided the safest place for his new bike would be inside the fence in the backyard.
But today is Wednesday; payday. As I hopped in the shower, I heard Ayden yell something. As I was getting out of the shower, our old rotary dial house phone rang downstairs. But I couldn't get it. And then it rang again. This alarmed me a bit so I hustled and dried off and dressed but nothing else happened. I also realized that Ayden had gone to get his pay. He always goes at 2pm every Wednesday because they don't pay before 2pm. And then he heads to the bank to deposit most of his money. He usually keeps out a couple of dollars for a treat. He is faithful and diligent to this weekly ritual and he does not forget. Today he was behind. Public school threw him off this morning so he was late returning from music. Instead of getting his new bike out of the back yard (the one with brakes that work) he chose to jump on his beater bike and head up to the square for his weekly errand. Two blocks from home he crashed. The bike chain came off and tangled in the tire sending him twirling and whacking his arm on the pavement. I believe he knew he broke his arm right away. He called me using his Trac phone twice in a row. But I didn't answer. A lady who works with our sons at Fareway saw him and, according to what she told Laramy, heard him howling. She had her Fareway uniform on which clued him in to get Brady who was still at work.
I was dressed and about to comb out my hair when Brady charged up the steps exclaiming Ayden had broken his arm and he was rushing him to the emergency. It was quite an andrenaline rush for me but I said, "Not without me!" I grabbed my two purses (my curse for having too many and having my ID in one and my insurance card in the other) and off we went. As I jumped in the truck it was obvious his arm was broken. He was calm and scraped but okay. He was well taken care of and the arm was stabilized. And tomorrow we see the ortho.
Tonight as I sit in my bed waiting for Eric to return from some out-of-state training, I realize how responsible my guys were today. We have, unfortunately, experienced plentiful trips to the emergency room between the five boys and they are aware of what to do. Logan came home and was calm but took care of some business before he left. Laramy got the rest of the scoop from our good samaritan at work tonight and exclaimed when he came home, "I don't want him riding that bike anymore". I loved seeing that protection mode come out. Ayden realized his lesson learned about impatience. As it was he never made it to pick up his pay or deposit it in the bank because he didn't want to take the time to get the new bike out of the fence. I have some very decent caring young men in my family.
So I'm counting this practice. Eric is available but not really here. He will be here tomorrow when we see the ortho. We made decisions without his input and I resisted the urge to call him knowing that I will be taking care of things like this without his immediate knowledge. We are very capable. When a child is injured the first response is to make sure both parents know. I won't have that immediate option during the next year. We will survive. And he will be better less any of these family stresses to distract him.
Deuteronomy 28:6 May you be blessed in your coming in, and blessed in your going out!
Prayer request:
1) Thanks and praise for sunshine and warmer temps during this glorious Holy Week.
2) Continued prayer for our vehicles. We have two listed to sell on Craig's List and have had many calls but no takers just yet.
3) Continued prayer for my daily stamina.
4) Continued prayer for my transition to bill-paying.
5) Pray that we find and utilize every option given to us by the military while he is deployed.
6) Pray that time slows down until he leaves and speeds up when he is gone. :) It's possible.
Love,
Monica
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