I said I am ready for fall, but I didn't mean....

Yesterday I was somewhat relaxed on the couch when several kids came in, one or two of them mine, and said Katie had gotten her leg stuck somewhere. So I rolled my eyes, got up and went out to rescue my impulsive, sometimes clumsy sweet girl, figuring I would be chuckling at her when I got to her. Wrong!

Katie was involved in a water balloon fight she was not winning. Apparently the whole gang, about 8 kids, had decided she needed to "go down!!" and were chasing her. She ran to our shed and grabbed the extension ladder, opened it up and started climbing. Unfortunately, the extension was not locked and it began to close, pinching and trapping her lower leg. She and the ladder fell about six feet to the ground and she was quite upset, obviously in pain. Several of us tried to open the ladder to release her leg, but it would not budge. I couldn't move it even a tiny bit without howls of pain from my poor girl, so I called 911.

I thought for sure her leg was broken! There was no obvious deformity but that ladder was so tight on her! Pretty quickly, her foot turned that sickly pale yellow skin turns when it is not receiving blood supply. I called my mom, who raced the eight minutes from her house to mine in about five. The fire department came and did what they do best- fix things! They quickly cut the ladder rung and freed her. She was strapped to a backboard with a hard cervical collar and off we went to the ER. (The precautions were because of the fall.)

It's not broken! However, she can't put any weight on it still today. The ugly, multi-colored bruising is just starting to appear, and we need a new ladder.

My Kate, she is deeper than anyone would ever give her credit for when she is being her goofy, hyper, silly self. In the ER, I noticed she had started crying, I asked her if she was in pain. She said her eyes were watering because she was tired. Uh-huh. I asked her again why she was crying. She said "Everyone was just so nice." I thought about it. Her friends were all here, and crowded around her, telling her to be calm, everything would be ok and generally keeping her calm and distracted while we waited for the fire department. Even "Kevin". Kevin is now a friend, but there were years when they were sworn enemies! The boys who had been ganging up on her moments before were now offering to get their saws, their dads, and anything else they thought might help. Her friend Shivani, the only other girl in the group, held her hand the entire time we waited. She cried tears of gratitude. Not because she was injured, not because she was worried about missing volleyball season, but because she was grateful and knew she was loved.

There is something beautiful to be found everywhere.