How NOT To Spend Your Friday Night...

I was curled up by the fireplace last night, reading my Bible when the telephone rang. It was my mother, who lives "next door". She asked me to come over and look at her hand but didn't say why. I had graciously shared the car with my eldest daughter so she could go to a movie with friends and so I was without a vehicle but I told her I'd walk over. When I say we live right next door, we are on one 20 acre section of the original 40 acres and my mom lives on the original farmstead on the other corner. It's extremely hilly with woods, open pastureland and ponds thrown in. All that to say, it's about an eight minute jaunt when you are moving at a good pace. I didn't wear my snowshoes and so I was sinking in the deep snow as I walked as quickly as I could across the frozen tundra.

Mom's hand was injured when two (family owned) dogs got into a fight and she tried to intervene. Thankfully it wasn't terribly serious but I called the triage nurse at the local hospital to ascertain if she needed to go in. By then it was after 9:00pm and neither mom nor I relished the idea of spending a few hours in the ER but that was where we ended up. She was cleaned up, x-rayed and stitched up in about 3.5 hours. The ER was really very busy and so we had to wait while the young doctor attended to everyone. Mom ended up in the dental room. I didn't even know that hospitals had emergency dental rooms! Now I do, and so do you.

Thankfully her injuries were not more serious than what they were. No broken bones and no apparent nerve damage. It's not even her dominant hand which, apparently, is kind of strange. It will be sore but a day later I'm just thankful that I was here and able to help when she needed me. I can't even begin to tell you how many times my mother has attended me in emergency room visits but it's been a lot. I was an extremely adventurous and active girl and didn't think about the possibility of accidents happening to me. I had a horse fall on me when it reared straight up and fell over backwards. That hurt. A lot. I had numerous stitches and other various injuries. Somehow I survived, a little battle scarred, and so did she.

Life is like that, isn't it? It's hard, hurts at times, and can leave us with scars. Even so, I'm trusting that all my suffering in this life has a purpose and for that I'm thankful. I'm also thankful for a mom who let me live a life of action and adventure, roaming the countryside on my horse. Thanks mom!