Bummer Week
It has been a wild week here at Casa Phaedrous. There was the student art show for the school district where my daughter had one of her paintings hung, followed by a scholarship interview featuring the same larva. Then there were the multiple track meets for her brother. The second of the two track meets coincided with an appointment on the other side of town for beers with some old coworkers. Just as I was approaching the appointed spot, steam shot from under my hood and all the dashboard warning lights came on.
That resulted in a very expensive flatbed ride home for the White Whale (and I had to leave the party early). The next day, I discovered that I paid a king's ransom because a hose had popped off a fitting behind the engine and my car pissed all of its coolant out on the road. Total cost of the repair = zero if you don't count the grease on my hands and the tightening of a hose clamp.
While I was in the mechanic mood, I changed the oil because it was time and I planned to drive up north the next day.
But, as in many things, the plan got changed. Upon arriving at the high school that afternoon to retrieve my two track stars, I was told by my son to park in the handicapped spot (without explanation) and then saw my daughter coming out on crutches. Apparently, she had a bad vault and came down wrong, twisting her knee.
Today, instead of driving north, I drove her to the doctor's, and then to the MRI place. The news was not good. She did a number on her knee for real and our next stop is an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. I now have a very bummed daughter who is looking at the end of her high school athletic career, a prom involving crutches or a wheel chair, and a summer of physical therapy and rehabilitation.
The weather is appropriately stormy.
Secretly, I am happy she came down feet first. It could have been so much worse.
That resulted in a very expensive flatbed ride home for the White Whale (and I had to leave the party early). The next day, I discovered that I paid a king's ransom because a hose had popped off a fitting behind the engine and my car pissed all of its coolant out on the road. Total cost of the repair = zero if you don't count the grease on my hands and the tightening of a hose clamp.
While I was in the mechanic mood, I changed the oil because it was time and I planned to drive up north the next day.
But, as in many things, the plan got changed. Upon arriving at the high school that afternoon to retrieve my two track stars, I was told by my son to park in the handicapped spot (without explanation) and then saw my daughter coming out on crutches. Apparently, she had a bad vault and came down wrong, twisting her knee.
Today, instead of driving north, I drove her to the doctor's, and then to the MRI place. The news was not good. She did a number on her knee for real and our next stop is an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. I now have a very bummed daughter who is looking at the end of her high school athletic career, a prom involving crutches or a wheel chair, and a summer of physical therapy and rehabilitation.
The weather is appropriately stormy.
Secretly, I am happy she came down feet first. It could have been so much worse.
Copyright ©2003-2007 Phaedrous
posted by Phaedrous at 5:56 PM
3 Comments:
it must be the parent in us...i was thinking the same...good that it was her knee and not her neck. although i can certainly understand her pain, frustration, and disappointment. hoping her recovery goes well (understanding it will be a long road). given that she is young, in good shape and your daughter i am betting she will come through very well.
Oh crapo.. poor gurlie girl....
Daddy-o, time to teach her how to do wheelies and make sure you use pink cards in the wheelchair spokes.. She will be the belle of the ball!
I can understand your daughter's frustration in the matter, but I too am glad that she landed on her feet! Of course, it's difficult when you're that age to remember that things could be worse and in the end you were lucky - although that's tough at any age when you're in a tight spot. It's so easy to be more upset about what you might lose compared to the things that might have been, because while what you might lose still has a very real chance of occurring, what might have been will not be - so who cares about it? Things will get better, though, and she still has all of her involvement in government to look forward to. In the end, it may well be better to end it this way when she's still enthused about the sport than halfway through a season in college when she's doing great, but may not care anymore. At least now, she won't face the pressure of let-down teammates and demanding coaches who could have pressured her into staying in for the team for the rest of the year, and then end up resenting the sport and all of the time she spent doing it. But she'll heal faster than she'd like to think, and once it's all over and done with she'll remember that it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be - and having you for a father made it that much easier.
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