ER Summer

I'm guessing in our family, Summer 2007 will come to be known as "ER Summer". Sounds a bit like a novel title, doesn't it? NOT how I was planning for the story of our summer to read.

I know we have probably spent *more* time in the same timeframe in the ER, back in the days when Daddy was so sick and we spent something like 5 consecutive holidays in the ER with him...but for *different* people in the same family, I'm thinking maybe we are going for a record of some sort. (Actually, we have friends we are probably neck in neck with, but I'm pretty sure that *both* of our families are ready to drop out of the running and give the title to someone else now...:)) I guess I started it all with my ankle this spring. And then Papa and Mother in June, and now Ammah Grace for July.

Yes, Ammah Grace. She now also holds the record for ER visits for children in our family. Fortunately, it only took two trips to claim that record...up until yesterday, she and Bayley were tied at one. (Bayley went as an infant when Peter, not quite two, threw a board book and happened to hit her in the eye. Ammah Grace went last June when she broke her arm.)

Anyway, the hubbub all started yesterday afternoon...when Ammah Grace began screaming at the top of her lungs and the three big kids half carried/half drug her to me, all trying, amid screams and tears, to tell me what had happened. I finally gathered that she had fallen on the coffee table and hit her head, about the time I cleaned the blood off enough to tell that the damage appeared to be confined to the area around her left eyebrow.

There are times when having a husband who works in the ER is really rough...but on days like yesterday, we certainly see the perks. They got us straight in, bent the rules to let the kids come back with us, and just all-in-all made a *really* bad experience much better than it could have been. And I am *so* thankful that Billy was able to drop everything and stay with us the whole time (*he* got to stay in the room with her and help hold her down while they stitched her up, while I stayed in the hall with the other kids.) She now has four stitches, a *serious* shiner, and the promise of a nice little scar on her eyebrow. :( But...we are *so* thankful that it wasn't any worse...it certainly could have been, and we are thankful for God's protection and His working even on the *not-so-good days*.

Speaking of which...Dr. Barnett asked the kids how their summer was going. One of them said "fine", and then Emlyn said, "well, except for *this* day" in this extremely exasperated voice. I kind of laughed, and then I said, "well, actually...this is sort of how our whole summer has been, come to think of it..."

I'm hoping this will be the *last* installment of "ER Summer"!