About one month ago, my world turned upside down. We had just arrived at our vacation home in Saugatuck, Michigan. I was anxious to start my new knitting project but I couldn’t find the pattern anywhere, so I started going through bags and my purse, and then suddenly it occurred to me that it might be in our car.
I ran into our garage not realizing the cement floor was so slippery. In addition, the slippers I was wearing had completely lost their treads, creating the perfect storm.
When I stepped into the garage I missed a step and literally went flying, landing on my right side and hitting my right cheekbone. Suddenly, I was in excruciating pain. I rolled on my back and called out for my husband but he was inside the house and couldn’t hear me.
I managed to get up and go inside and started yelling: “I fell, broke my glasses and I think my hand is broken!” My husband took one look at my right hand and very calmly said: “I think we need to go to the emergency room.”
Fast forward, after a 4-hour wait in the Holland Hospital, I was seen by the ER doc. He was kind and compassionate, as was the staff, and after X-rays and a CT scan, it was clear I needed surgery for a broken and dislocated wrist.
I had surgery a few days later and the surgeon said to me, your wrist broke into “a million pieces,” figuratively speaking. It was clear this would be a long recovery and it would not be pain-free.
Many of you may not know this, but I do everything in “fourth gear”. I live life passionately and give 100% to everything I do including loving the people around me. Now, I was in the position of waiting, surrendering, and trusting G-d to bring me through this.
Everything I love to do in life involves my hands. Piano, exercising, needlepoint, knitting and painting. Everyday I prayed that I would receive what I needed. No more, no less.
Here’s where the magic started to happen. Countless friends and family members reached out asking how they could help. My family has been receiving meals 3 times a week for a month. I’ve received phone calls, cards and a lovely box of chocolates from my oldest brother and his wife.
My youngest son had moved home prior to my injury and the timing couldn’t have been better. My husband has gone above and beyond anything I could have asked or hoped for, helping me with both small and big things including cleaning my surgery site each night and rewrapping my arm in its cast.
During this time, I learned about the Japanese art of Kintsugi. It is the art of repairing broken pottery with a gold lacquer, making the object even more beautiful than it was in its original condition. In a world that values perfection in all things it represents a way to find beauty in brokeness and imperfection.
This injury has forced me to slow down and be patient and present. It’s given me the gift of being emotionally available to the people around me and to be grateful for small things.
This week I started painting with my left hand and also I found a way to knit, very slowly and carefully. I would not have chosen these circumstances, but I believe I’m being changed for the better and that there are lessons to be learned.
I am blessed.