Where Do I Begin?

I have gone over this in my head way too many times. How do I start writing a post that tells you I got hit in the head by a falling tree? I guess I just did. And yes, you read that correctly, and to answer your next question: I am fine.

Last Wednesday, July 2nd, we got rocked with nasty weather in South Lyon. The sky was a pale green and the rain was blowing sideways...literally. I was standing at the front window unable to see across the street because of the high winds and rain, and started to think we should head to the basement, just in case. Our area is known for getting hit by the occasional tornado. Just then, I saw the umbrella for Tyler's outdoor play table fly from the backyard and down our driveway. Kelly grabbed a towel, and I went out after it.

As I approached, our neighbor's front yard-tree, which had four or five limbs branching off it, lost one and it fell to the ground in front of the umbrella. I stopped in my tracks, looked up at the tree and heard it crack just before it started to fall, directly above me. I ducked, and ran forward, hand over my head instinctively, and it hit me in the head, driving me to the pavement. It sounds worse than it was. I was ducking, and low to the ground, and the limb was not as big as the first one that stopped the umbrella's trek towards the street. Had that one hit me, this post would probably not be written.

My forehead hit the pavement and I felt no pain. I expected the shock to wear off and both pain and blood to flow, but neither did. I ran into the house, told Kelly what happened, and felt my head. I had no cuts. Just abrasions on my head, that looked like the kind Tyler gets when he skins his knees on the pavement. I had scratches on my arms and some slight bruising, but that was all. I was coherent and felt fine.

But I had lost my glasses. Somehow they had left my face and disappeared into the bushes in front of the house, or the tree, or were blown down the street. Kelly let me ice my head with a bag of frozen peas, while she went out to look for my glasses. She never found them. An hour later, it was darker, but the rain was nothing more than a sprinkle so I went out again to look for them, mind you, without wearing them to see.

Our neighbor across the street, Mark, with whom we don't socialize, walked over and offered to help. He looked for my glasses, then used a strap tied to his truck to pull the limbs off our driveway so we could get out. It was a surprising gesture of friendliness, and I still can't believe he did it.

Tyler cried a lot because he understood what happened to me, and was afraid that the rain would come in our house and get him. I felt terrible for him, and we calmed him down eventually.

The next morning, we took him outside in the light sprinkles and he was fine. He was even ordering us around about how we should move the tree limbs and he was saying that he, too, needed new glasses. It was cute. It was important, too. For a boy who's scared of blowing leaves, the last thing he needs to be afraid of is falling rain.

To this day, I have not found my glasses.

Kelly drove me to my eye doctor the morning after I got hit, but they had no power. We had lost ours for about 7 hours during the night. It had arced on and off and the sky would light up as the power surged on and off. Kelly and I called around and decided to check Lenscrafters in the mall, even though they don't play well with our insurance company. I needed to see...I needed to work that day, and with the holiday, I needed my glasses. Literally two feet into the store, my eye doctor called, said they had power, so we drove back to them and I got my new glasses.

That's the basic story of the events surrounding the day I got hit by the tree. I called my doctor yesterday, told them what happened, and they want me to call if I have headaches or if I feel worse.

I was very lucky. I believe that had I not been low to the ground, and had part of the tree not clipped our gutter, I might have been hurt seriously. It could have gone any number of horrific ways, but it didn't. My mom suggested that I had a guardian angel watching over me at that moment, and I can't help but wonder. No cuts, no skull cracks, no broken bones, or anything. Just some scratches on my arms and elbow, bruises on my head and sore muscles from the impact.

Looking back, I'd much rather let that umbrella go, and save myself the traumatic event. But I do like my new glasses. Basically the same as before, but black, and I can see, cuz my prescription changed.

When I look at the world today, it's a bit more clear, a bit more dry, and also a bit more meaningful.

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