January 18 – “Very, very …”

OK.  Enough.  It was very, very cold yesterday.  I know as a writer you are not supposed to use the word “very.”  Too many other, more descriptive choices out there in the world of flower-li—dom.  So in this case let me say … it was very, very cold yesterday.  I have worn both of my long sleeved shirts now.  Nothing new to show off there.  And this whole wearing socks every day is just weird.  Isn’t it time to get back to the nice, tropical, wintry 70’s?

Chris received a phone call from Christina.  Actually they text all the time, so it might have been that.  They take turns being Mom to Kel.  This time there was a bit of a crisis that was going to require both of their Mommy skills.  Kel cut his finger very, very badly at work, and needed a ride to an urgent care clinic.  Now you have to understand the “why” of their Mommy instinct kicking in here.  Ever since he was a little kid Kel has been very, very good at passing out whenever there is blood involved.  He’s a master at crashing when a needle enters the picture.  Christina was prepared to drive all the way down here, all five kids in tow, drop them off with us, and go be with Kel.  Chris suggested that she stay off the icy roads and let us brave the winter blast and meet him instead.  Christina agreed with that solution.  She just wanted someone to put eyes on him.

We picked him up at the post office parking lot.  No one there even offered to drive him, which I’m pretty sure is a breach of protocol.  If not … it should be.  Especially when we found out the circumstances surrounding the gash.  Seems the door of his post office vehicle was frozen shut (Told you it was very, very cold).  When it finally broke free, his finger was pinched between the door and the latch.  Ouch. 

He did really well with the repair work on his finger.  Four stitches.  Probably would have been more, but his fingernail was involved, so they couldn’t get the needle under it to sew the skin back.  Instead they crammed it together and wrapped it up very, very tight.  He handled it like a trooper: Pre-emptive attack.  Drank some Gatorade.  Stayed flat on his back with his knees up.  And he never did pass out.  He told Christina later that it helped having his mother in the room.  Her presence kept him from cussing when the pain got very, very bad.  Hey, Mom, all your hard work paid off. 

On the way back to the post office we stopped by Nathan’s to get a gift he had for Kel.  Something to keep his head and face warm out in the cold.  But as we left his house, driving down the road, we heard a small crash.  We recognized the sound easily enough.  Ice falling from the car.  I told you it was very, very cold.  What we didn’t realize until we got back home was … the ice that fell off also grabbed and took with it a very, very large portion of our car’s paint job.  Now our black car has a section of white-ish, gaping ugliness.  We were very, very sad.  Painting the whole car would be several thousand dollars.  I’d just as soon spring for a new car.  Or maybe we can pick up a can of spray paint at WalMart …

Psalms 27:4 says, “One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.”

Father, thank you for protecting Kel and getting him through this crisis of very, very’s.  Amen.