The Marvelous and The Terrible

Today was an unusual day. It started out quite wonderfully, to tell you the truth. I didn't realize just how much I missed my family being together until this morning, when Gerrit and Vanessa didn't go to school, and we actually had a good old "homeschool days" talk on the bed. We read a conference address from President Monson about keeping ourselves safe from the adversary... study diligently, pray fervently, and live righteously... great talk (April 2009 Priesthood address). We had family prayer, which has become a night and dinner time occasion instead of first thing in the morning, breakfast, lunch, dinner and night time. Boy, did it feel good to just relax with my kids and discuss the words of the Prophet, pray, plan for the day and just be... be the family we used to be before public school. We weren't exactly a complete family, since Dayton is down to BYU for his first EFY this whole week, and Kevin was working, but it was a whole lot closer than we've felt on a morning in a long time. I'm sure grateful for that.

The kids did their chores, ate lunch and got busy on the friend invites. Gerrit's three friends, Daniel, Kyle and JJ came over to hang with him, and Vanessa's friend, Sarina, came over as well. Marin was just ready to invite her friend over when all the excitement occurred.

"Hey Mars... do we have any avocados left? Could you cut me one and salt it for me, please?"

"Sure, Mom." Marin busied herself with the avocado as I investigated new possibilities for Activity Days. Only moments later, Marin was at my side. "Mom... I... look..." I looked at the fingers of the hand she was clutching and saw the blood. Separating the pointer and middle fingers of her left hand, I found myself looking into a gaping crevice on the underside of her knuckle.

"What happened? How did this happen, Marin?" I asked. Sobbing, now, Marin proceeded to explain how she was trying to get the avocado pit out by stabbing the knife into it, as I do with a fork, and the knife slipped, tearing through the base of her pointer finger and into the soft, thin skin between the pointer and middle fingers. She was, no doubt, exerting some good pressure on that pit when the knife slipped on it's slimy surface. Poor girl... I could literally see down inside of the skin. It cut all the way through that thin, stretchy connective tissue and left the cavity above the knuckle exposed. The blood was gushing, but I quickly rinsed it and closed her fingers together, side by side, put a paper towel around them and told her to hold on while we rushed her to the doctor's office.

Marin was extremely brave, even smiling for a picture with her cut hand. What a gal! The doc came in, checked her out, gave her a numbing shot (painful... tears... ouch...) and left the nurse to clean it out. After she was all cleaned up, Dr. Clark put five stitches in between her fingers, told us gruesome stories about lessons learned in the E.R. and sent us packing with suckers for two little girls, to boot. Considering the amount we get to pay for deductibles, I would have expected something more like Shirley Temple's big pinwheel sucker she held when she sang, "On the Good Ship Lollipop," but alas, Dum Dum's would just have to do :0)

From the doctor's office, we rushed home to pick up Vanessa and a few friends for a ward Young Women's dodgeball game, which the other team didn't bother to show up for. When you live out in the boonies like we do, you don't drive 15 minutes for nothing! We stayed and played dodgeball... Kevin, Marin and I included. The numbing agent hadn't quite worn off, and Marin was feeling great. She even played with a friend for an hour or two when we got home. The pain and the tears didn't start up again until later this evening, but it's nothing a couple of Tylenol couldn't take care of.

Kevin and the kids watched "Gorillas in the Mist" while I caught up on some computer work. We had watched that show years ago when it came out and remembered thinking it was really great, no doubt before we had kids. I didn't realize just how bad a fit it was for Audra until moments ago when she came into the front room, lip trembling, with tears rolling down her cheeks. She squeeked out, "Mom... they ki...killed the gorillas and cut off their arms and hands. The evil junglers and even people like us did it. They killed the la..lady, too," and she broke down sobbing. I took her in my arms and rocked her and told her how sorry I was that she had to see something so sad and disturbing. She was really upset. We talked about the good things this lady had done for the animals in trying to protect them and that she was in Heaven because of her soft heart and kindness. Poor little Audra. She would stop crying for a minute or two, and then start telling me about how they "killed all the females"... gorillas. I explained to her that she was feeling just like Heavenly Father feels when he sees us kill and hurt animals or each other... very, very sad. It was really awful for her.

Next time I preview the movie... again... before the kids watch. Lots of swear words in it, as well, they said. Sorry, Audra! As soon as I wrap this up, I'll scoop her up off the floor where she is now sleeping with Bruno as a pillow and take her into bed with Kevin and I. We already said our prayers and asked Heavenly Father to help take the terrible images out of her mind so she could sleep and thanked him for people like the lady in the film who are courageous enough to fight for what is right. I told Audra that maybe someday she can help protect the animals, too, which of course brought more tears and "But then I'd die... someone would kill me." That was a whole new discussion about how everyone dies, at some point, and that going to Heaven will be just like running into my arms... that Heavenly Father and Jesus are waiting to give us a great big hug and that we will feel comforted and loved in their embrace just as she was feeling in mine. Bless her heart.