We had a very eventful Easter Eve. Kelly and her mom, that is.
Kelly was invited to Charlotte Butker’s birthday party the Saturday before Easter. I was letting her watch TV in the basement so I could get the house cleaned up before we left for the party. At 11:15, the cries of pain came from the basement. Nicole told us Kelly was climbing on the chair, slipped and cut open her chin. Sure enough, she had a pretty good sized gash, but not much blood. It was decided that she should go to the emergency room.
On the way to Egleston, she told me a number of times that she didn’t want stitches. I tried my best to comfort her, telling her hopefully all she needed a special band-aid.
At 1:00, she was brought back to a room to wait for the doctor. Very nice guy, with terrific bedside manner for kids. He came in the room and Kelly, who was turned away from him, immediately said, “I don’t want stitches”. He sat down next to her and asked her what happened. Still looking at the wall, she told him. Then he asked her about her teeth, tongue, etc. Only then did Kelly turn to face him and she let him look at her chin, still telling him “I don’t want any stitches”. He told her she probably didn’t need stitches, this time. He pulled out some glue, alcohol, band-aids, etc. to show her exactly what he was going to do. She put her hand on his leg and listened very carefully to him. It was most cute. While a nurse was gathering the things he needed, he left the room, but before he left, Kelly told him one more time that she didn’t need stitches. He laughed.
Meanwhile, I’m looking at my watch and am relieved that we’re going to make the 2:30 party. Dr. Snowden returns and prompts Kelly into saying once again that she doesn’t want stitches. He sat on the bed and tells her she’s “a piece of work”. I think he particularly liked her. After glueing and bandaging her cut, he gets up to tell me how to care for her chin. Kelly then says “How do I look?” She has put the band-aid on and the Dr. gets another chuckle from her and tells her she has done a fine job putting the band-aid on.
Kelly and I have just enough time to clean up at home and still make the party on time.
We’re cruising down 85 when a funny sound comes from the van. I’m afraid one of my fears has come true. The van loses a little control and I know I’ve got a flat tire. Fortunately, all the cars slow to allow me to pull over on the right emergency lane. We stop right before Spaghetti Junction and to the right of me is expressway, and to the left of me is expressway. There is no way we can walk for help. I immediately started to look for paper and pencil to write a note for someone to call for help. No more than 2 minutes pass when a tow truck pulls over in front of us. A very nice man gets out and offers help.
I kept thinking of our neighbor who lost her daughter on the side of the expressway and am very worried about Kelly sitting in the van. I ask him if Kelly could please sit in his truck. He also lets me use his cell phone. I notice the name of the company on the truck, Angel’s Towing Service. I looked at it twice just to make sure I was reading it right. The guy was so nice and helpful, that I had a particular feeling of being watched over. He tells me that he didn’t used to stop to help people until once on a trip his wife and baby were stranded and someone stopped to help. He was about to exit to buy an Easter basket when he saw all the cars swerving and slowing and decided to see if someone needed help. Kelly and I, maybe it was just me, were blessed that day. I truly felt like an angel had been sent.