Falling Down

Falling Down

I hate falling. I'm not the most graceful person alive so stumbling happens often. As does running into things. Luckily, I don't fall down often. Maybe that is why when I do fall, things don't turn out very well.

The first fall I remember happened in early grade school. I can't remember exactly how old I was, but I vividly remember the fall itself. Well, the impact anyway, as I was asleep during the actual fall. My sister and I had a bunk bed set at the time. Now this was an old bunk bed that looked like it was made of cast iron. It also didn't have the safety bar that today's beds have. At the time, I would sleep right on the edge. As you can guess, I rolled off. Now the really odd part is that I had my head on one end of the bed when I went to sleep. When I woke up, face down on the floor, my head was where my feet should have been. This is probably a good thing, as my head probably would have hit the dresser next to the bed on the way down. My dad put a 2x4 bar across the next day. So while I never fell off that bed again, I've had back problems on and off since.

The next fall I remember very vividly. It was February 12, 1992. I was 10 years old and in the 5^th grade. It was PE day and we were jumping over the vaulting horse. No tricks, just jumping. Well, my foot got caught and I tripped. When I landed, my arms were crossed underneath me. I heard something snap. Loudly. I knew I had broke something and since my right wrist was on fire with pain, I figured that was it. Boy, was I right. My wrist was hanging lower than my arm or hand. It was creepy looking. I spent 4 weeks in a cast, during which I learned how to do a 1-handed cartwheel. I wasn't happy with my physical therapy after the cast came off. Mom, however, thought it was funny. Apparently, washing dishes is perfect wrist rehab.

The next fall I remember was the summer after 8^th grade. My cousin and I decided to go horse back riding. She offered to saddle the horse for me while I changed my clothes. Knowing that she knew how to the job correctly, I agreed. I then proceeded to fail miserably at checking to make sure it was done correctly. While riding, my saddle slipped. I rolled spectacularly, over VERY rocky ground. I hurt for weeks. On top of that, my already touchy back was in agony. My mom took me to a chiropractor to see if there was any damage done. That is when we discovered I have scoliosis. While it's not bad enough to need any corrective measures taken, it does cause problems.

The next fall that comes to mind was only a few years ago. I was home alone that day. I had a sinus infection and had stayed home from work. I had taken my girls to daycare so I could rest. I don't even remember now why I had decided to go to the basement that day, but it was a bad decision. I fell. There were 13 steps on that staircase and I fell all the way down. My head hit the basement door on the way down and put a hole through the drywall behind it. I never lost consciousness but I laid there for quite awhile, crying from the pain. Though I lived in that house for another year and a half, I hated going down those stairs. Laundry was an even more dreaded chore, as was any other chore that took me down there.

The most recent fall I remember was the summer of 2013. Ted and I had just got done watching his girls' dance recital and were headed back to the car. The ground we were walking on was very uneven and littered with obstacles. I was wearing some low wedged sandals. You would think I would remember to be a bit more careful with all of those stacked against me, right? I guess I wasn't careful enough. I stepped on a small branch and went down. It was almost cartoonish to see, I'm sure, as it was a very slow fall. You know the kind where you can feel your body tense the entire way down? That was the fall. My hip is still giving me trouble from it. I keep saying/thinking I should talk to my doctor about it, but I've been more concerned with getting my migraines under control.

The topic for this random musing was found using a new app I found on the Google play store, called WritingPrompts.