The Breaking

I got a haircut a few days ago. Today we went to the lake.

I don’t recommend going to the lake with a fresh haircut. The skin which never sees the light of day will be burning bright for the world to see. I feel like a walking, talking candlestick.

Of course, I didn’t realize what had happened until I reached up to scratch an itch. The itch will have to keep itching.

So, an interesting thing happened today. My mom has a fractured bone in her foot. It happened recently. But today, she completed the job. She likes to finish what she starts. And it was a job well done. The bone is completely broken now.

She sat down for the rest of the day. Then as we were leaving, Dad and I acted as living, breathing crutches. She hopped on her left foot over to the truck, leaning upon the arms of her beloved husband and her son. The handsome one. Me.

When the breaking happened, she was as calm as a cucumber. She said, “Ope, I just broke the bone the rest of the way.”

I looked at her. “You’re kidding?”

“Nope.”

Now I should’ve had more sympathy, but I asked, “If you really broke it, wouldn’t you be, like, screaming or something?”

“Son, it’s broken. And it does hurt.” There was an emphasis on “does.”

So we helped Hop-Along to the vehicle. It would’ve been nice if Dad could’ve driven the truck into the water so she could’ve just floated into it. And he didn’t seem to appreciate my suggesting it.

So now we have to go to the chiropractor. It’s hard being a crutch.

But in all seriousness, y’all pray for her. And hopefully, her foot will heal before the end of summer.

to Linda Crooked-foot Driscoll,
– Caleb