Luck

Yesterday, I really thought a lot about being thankful... what that means to me and how to try and carry that feeling of gratitude forward in a more prominent way. I didn't spend much time thinking about the luck quotient and how being just plain lucky is something that I'm extremely thankful for.

You see the day started the way most do; nothing out of the ordinary to report. We were excited to see family and have a big Thanksgiving meal. Kids played, adults chatted... it was a beautiful day and all of us spent some time out in the sunshine enjoying the mild weather.

It was time for pie when the day began to take a detour from the ordinary. The big kids came running into the house. Gavin's cousin first. She had an urgent look on her face and sought out her father for a hushed conversation... when she pointed to Gavin, who was rushing into the house. He was holding the side of his head; blood streaming from between his fingers. He wasn't crying. He had a similarly urgent look on his face.

It seemed to be playing out in slow motion. Everything was quiet. He was trying to explain what happened, but I didn't hear him, and I couldn't figure out what the big red thing was under his hand.

That's when slow-motion stopped. Everything got noisy again and I jumped from my chair. Gavin had a big gaping wound on the side of his head. He wasn't crying...

I would have liked to have freaked out... but having a melt-down didn't seem like the thing to do. And Monte's aunt, well she's amazing. She calmly moved Gavin's hand to reveal a sizable wound on his left temple. She applied pressure and guided us to the bathroom to clean up and get a better look under the light.

It seemed to take forever to get to the emergency room. When we finally did, we were ushered right in. The pediatric doctor did an assessment and determined that there was no nerve damage and that the wound would be easy to repair. A few hours and seven stitches later, I was fully aware of the luck quotient.

Gavin was lucky that the tree branch that hit his head didn't make contact an inch to the right... or that he wasn't up in the tree when the branch gave way... or any other number of scenarios didn't come to pass.

Even though I say he was lucky, Gavin has always had a guardian angel watching over him. We know it's more than luck... luck is just an easy word to use as a description.

So, we've been successful in our attempt to carry our gratitude and sense of thankfulness with us. Although our list of things we are thankful for has grown to include luck and guardian angels.