And Then Your Gutter Bracket Breaks

We used to live next door to a 94-year-old woman named Josie. She had been widowed for decades and didn't drive, so the little things in life that I took for granted were much bigger issues for her. One day I was looking out the window and saw that her gutter had broken and was on the ground. I walked over to take a look and figured out that it was just a broken bracket. When I told her that John and I would fix it as soon as we could, she started to cry. It seemed to be a combination of frustration at things falling apart and gratitude. Josie said, "You think your life is going along fine, and then boom, your gutter bracket breaks." John and I still say this when something happens that may not be major, but sure feels like it at the time. Yesterday morning it felt like my gutter bracket broke. 

(Photo: Colorado Department of Transportation)

I got a call from Ryan at 7:00 am, which meant it was 5:00 am for him in Colorado. Right away I knew that something was wrong. It turns out he had had an accident but assured me that he was fine. He had just taken an Uber home from the hospital and wanted to reiterate that he was fine. Sunday night he picked up a friend from the Denver airport and drove her to her apartment in Laramie when her flight got canceled due to high winds. On his way back to Fort Collins it was snowing, he lost traction, ran into the bank and flipped his car onto the driver's side. He's okay but has bruises and stitches and his car may be totaled. So I might be visiting Fort Collins again soon to help him out and shop for a car. 

I'm writing this several hours and several texts with Ryan later so I have had time to calm down and feel less shaky. I'm mainly feeling some sort of maternal guilt that I'm not there to make him grilled cheese and tomato soup and that I'm not there when my son is hurt. I've had a lovely offer of help from a kind Fort Collins knitter. Ryan says he doesn't need help, but "I'll most likely muddle through" is not 100% reassuring to me. I am so incredibly grateful that Ryan is basically okay and the accident wasn't much worse. I'm thankful that my metaphorical gutter bracket will be fine. 

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We don't have a specific Read With Us post today, but this is just a reminder that we are reading Just Mercy and will start discussing the book on Tuesday, November 5th. I know that several of you are waiting for the book from the library, but hopefully, you'll be able to read the first third of the book and join the first discussion on Kym's blog.