This month I had an unusual amount of book reviews, so I missed an anniversary. On February 13th in 2015, I broke my foot.
It was Friday the 13th late at night. My bedroom was heavy with the chill of a snowy day. I had finished reading for the night and made one last bathroom trip. As I leaped out of bed, my feet hit the cold hardwood floor. That sent me rushing through the icy room without watching where I was going. As I crossed over the bear throw rug, my left foot caught on our twenty-pound black cat, Coco. He had made it a habit to lie on top of the bear and blend in.
In what was only a few seconds seemed like forever as the cat didn’t move, but I did. My weight shifted trying to counterbalance, and I reached out to the dresser but missed. At that moment, I knew I was going down. So, I twisted in an attempt not to land on top of the cat who has a lot of trust in me I won’t hurt him. That’s when I heard a loud snap. Then I hit the ground.
I laid there next to Coco wondering what to do next. Through this event, my husband was still peacefully sleeping. After several painful tries to get up, I finally called out for help.
“Why are you lying on the ground? You should get up and sleep in the bed.” My groggy husband replied.
It took him a few moments to realize that I couldn’t get up and was hurt. Once he uprighted me, I hopped on one foot to complete my task. Each jump jarred my foot painfully.
Not wanting to go to the hospital in the middle of the night, I slept with a fortress of pillows protecting my injured foot.
I didn’t sleep much.
The next morning was Valentine’s Day. The special day was spent in the ER and sharing my story kept the hospital staff amused. My husband never left my side and reassured me it didn’t matter where we were if we were together. He had a good point.
Later, I left on crutches and rested through the weekend. As the days went by, I found I had too much time on my hands. I tried to fill it with TV shows, but I realized I needed something to do.
That’s when it was suggested by a family member that I should publish one of my children’s books.
With all this new time on my hands, I did a lot of research. Finally, I was ready to push that button. I was published.
Once I released that first book, I haven’t stopped. I kept going forward into the writing world.
So, happy late sixth anniversary to the time I tripped over our black cat on Friday the 13th and broke my foot. What seemed like a bad thing ultimately opened the door to a whole new world for me.
Embrace your inner child by reading a good book! D. L. Finn