Normal

Yesterday I felt normal for 30 minutes. I know, I know, I'm not supposed to say "normal" because we are all normal, just different. And typically I believe that and live my life based on such a philosophy, but sometimes it just seems like a load of crap. Let's look at the facts: it's not normal to have hardware in your leg, it's not normal to have P.T. every single day, it's not normal to clean nine pin sites that go all the way into your bone, it's not normal for your mom to say, "Get the wrench, it's time to lengthen." Now that that's established I can make my point (and hopefully it's coherent).

We didn't swim in the ocean at all last week. It was really rough and there were rip tide warnings. I didn't think it would be a good idea to loose my kids in one of those (although the thought did cross my mind). So, yesterday was our first venture back to the ocean in awhile. Carter was complaining because he didn't want to go, my other kids were gathering every piece of beach equipment imaginable and handing it to me, "Can you carry this?" I was getting frustrated. We tried to use Carter's cane to walk down to the water's edge..bad idea because it sinks in the sand. Just try to imagine Carter limping along, Colby and Caitlin running ahead, and me with my arms loaded to the max and swearing to the max (that was a Freudian slip, I meant to write sweating!). Lovely picture in your mind right now, I can imagine.

And then it happened. My normal 30 minutes. The water was so calm and clear it looked like glass and it was a balmy 85 degrees! Each of my children started to smile as they got in the water. Carter apologized for complaining, he'd just been nervous he told me (I guess I can give him that one). The water was fantastic as we all bobbed up and down together while laughing. All of the sudden it struck me how normal I felt, being in the water with my children, fixator hidden for the moment, no therapist, no stretches, no pin care. Just us having fun! Then I said to Carter, "I think the water is about 5 feet- prime shark territory, ya know." In his melodramatic voice, "If a shark comes..just SAVE yourself, do you hear me, SAVE yourself." We laughed and Colby rolled his eyes. As we laughed, a wave caught me off guard and I breathed in salt water. Ugh! I was coughing and screaming, "Ouch, ouch, I think a shark attack would be less painful!" Now all three of my children rolled their eyes.

Our ocean swim was followed by the pool, where we walk back and forth in the shallow end. Carter practices bearing weight and I hope I'm burning a few calories although I'm sure it's not nearly comparable to the junk food I'm eating. What besides ice cream can really put a silver lining on pin care? Anyway, then we did showers, pin care, ice cream, stretches, and physical therapy. I smiled all day because of my normal 30 minutes.