The Bad, The Fair, and The Good

Let's start with the bad. My mom wiped out. Not the embarrassing-trip-and-fall and everyone laughs type of wipe out. More like the she thought there was just one step but there were actually three, skydive-drop-without-a-parachute type of wipe out....while holding Gates. Before you panic, Gates is fine. Now let me continue with my story.

We had just picked some tomatoes and were leaving my friends' house when my mom stopped on the stairs to say something to the other mom. Then she turned around to step off, only to realize in mid air that she had a few more steps to go. Based on the expression on her face and the contortion of her body to correct this miscalculation, I knew it wasn't going to end well. This was confirmed when she landed on the concrete and was no longer holding Gates.

In the midst of the fall she launched him into the air - though the other mom later said she "softly dropped him" which was a nice way of saying the same thing - angels grabbed him, and set him down on his bum!  Yes, he landed on his bum and not his head. Unfortunately for him, he was also biting a cherry tomatoe at the time and the impact with the ground made the tomatoe shoot out of his mouth and he bit a hole in his tongue. THAT was messy. (By the way, we probably owe our friends a new beach towel from the clean-up.) Oh, and the first thing I said to my mom, as she and Gates laid there on the concrete, "Ah man, some of the tomatoes got squished." (I knew they'd eventually be okay.)

A nice stranger ran across the street with a horrified look on his face offering to help. He then quickly returned with a giant Popsicle in hopes of getting Gater to suck on it. Gater was too busy screaming at my mom so I helped him out and ate the Popsicle for him. Once the moms determined Gates hadn't hit his head, the bleeding from his tongue stopped, and no ER visit was necessary, my mom tried to casually collect herself and head home. Even with close friends this was an awkward moment. My mom said it was like after someone tells you your zipper is down or that your skirt is tucked in your nylons. It's just kind of hard to recover gracefully. Nevertheless, we departed.

Gates seemed fine when we got home, but my mom wanted to make sure his mouth was okay so she gave us  each a Popsicle. This time he was happy to take it and begged for a second and a third. My mom's guilt was enormous so six Popsicles later, she finally decided he would survive. This was also about the same time she realized SHE was limping.

Her right foot was swollen and had skin missing from both the left and right side of that foot (how do you do that?!??), both knees were swollen and bruised, her right elbow was skinned, and she said her back felt like she'd been in a car accident. She'll be okay too, just a bit slower this week on the tennis court.

So what's The Fair and The Good you ask? Keep watching for posts, they will be up soon!