His scream, that is what I will remember.
Hello.
We are on the way to the ER, Cole busted his head open.
Words barely heard over the symphony of pain that pull my heart strings, until they groan, ready to snap.
We just watched his head disappear through the window and then there was blood.
Puddles of crimson life gathering in the hollows of the hard brown stone, beside the soft prone body.
He was riding his scooter down the ramp your dad built for your mom and he hit the wall.
Memories pull me away from the conversation...
Logan got going to fast and ran through the chain link fence on his big wheel and hit a boat with his face. (Fourteen months ago)
Logan slipped off the stairs and went 'bounce bounce' on the Tupperware tub and flew into the banister. (Two and a half years ago)
I dove through a barb wire fence, catching my leg, parting the meat about fifteen inches. (Twenty two years ago)
Snapping back to reality, the cold phone pressing into my ear...
It will be alright, he's just earning his stripes.
But I still hear the screams.
[Seven stitches straight across the forehead. Boys, what can I say. ]
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84 comments:
Oh my, how frightening Brian. Hope he is not in too much pain.
I had a basal cell carcinoma removed from my forehead this summer and had a long sickle shape scar. I'm sharing that to let you know that the once huge scar is barely visible now.
Were you given any scar-minimizing cream to apply for a few months? I was prescribe that and I think it really helped. There are also over-the-counter versions that can be found....
Hope your rattled nerves have settled down. Thank goodness it was not more serious.
brian--you too continue to earn stripes as a parent--I hope your son is ok--c
Oh, poor guy. I do hope he's all right. You'll have to be brave and strong for everyone.
oh poor wee guy. i hope i don't have to go through this, but i know likely i will someday. my mother said my brother got into so much trouble and hurt himself so many times each week that she was afraid the hospital was going to arrest her for child abuse. he was always galavanting off on "adventures" in the back creek that ran behind our house growing up. boys, yes. boys. put some notes together for me now Brian? for mailing later? I can't seem to find the damn manual.
Boys do test your mental limits along with their physical capacity to heal, don't they?
My youngest has had a broken collar bone, an egg on his head that rivaled anything an ostrich could produce and a lip that saw his teeth come out the wrong side.
He forgets it all and moves on, yet I still flashback to the moments of screams and crying and blood.
Kids!
I am glad that he is okay! It worked out pretty good for Harrison Ford! :)
Hope Cole and his parents are doing much better tonight!
head first into the world … and its objects and objections forever after … that's what little boys are made of.
You'll be a General before it's all over :)
Poor Guy. Harder on the parents, I think! We've had our share of ER trips! ha.
How sorry I am to hear about your son's accident, you told the incident by poetic words, and what a mindful and wonderful DAD!
Hope that he is OKAY!
Keep us updated.
jingle from
http://www.jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com
Wow! Must have been scary there for a moment. I remember when my son feel down the stairs onto our hard concrete floor. That's the only one so far. Hopefully, your boys are done earning their stripes.
If only we could protect our children from 'ALL' harms.....
BUT, ALAS, we can't. All we can do is continue to earn our stripes. Surely, I am close to being the leader by now. :)
PG
Like father like son, huh? And you are a survivor, as he is and will be.
please attach a warning in the future that readers should know when to breathe
it's important
the breathing thing
I thought I would lose it when they strapped my 2 y.o. son to those little backboards and tied him down to stitch up his finger. He is 22 now and that scar still takes me back there like it was yesterday. Mom's just can't make everything all better. Dammit.
Namaste
So glad he is okay, I know these accidents are part of the growing up process but oh they are so hard to take......:-) Hugs
Poor thing. :( I am glad he is ok though!
I can only imagine the fear of that phone call. I'm glad your future X-Games star is back up and running. And I remember that leg of yours... If I recall you wrapped cloth around it and kept on trudging. Cowboy Up.
OH NO! I hate to hear this...you are right though...earning his stripes. Poor little buddy. WHY DO THEY DO THIS?? You and T have more gray hair now!
Ummmm, can I say that such descriptive language as..."parting the meat about fifteen inches" makes me want to HURL!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Omy.. reminds me of my brother when he was little. We have yet to have this happen at our house with our two boys. knock on wood.
As I was reading I naturally started thinking of all the trips to the hospital with my boy...the accident prone one. Thankfully your son is okay. Sometimes it is the "what ifs" that hit you later that are the worst.
take care.
hugs and healing to you all. hang in there. Even in tragedy, you have a way with the word that just paints another picture for me. So when ya gonna publish a book and send me a signed copy?
And you and his mom are earning yours too! Hugs to your wife on this one :). It isn't easy to see your boy hurting from the heart of a mother!
I'll bet the little bugger had one heck of a headache too. There's blood and flesh in those stripes and heartstrings too. Sending healing energy for all. RIGHT NOW>
Yeah baby,
nice suspense. as a hospital worker, you jerked my chains.
three boys here almost driving.
I will ask you to write one for me about....don't ever do this please behind the wheel
Stephen King Brian, scare the pants off of those teens please!
(scalps bleed like tsunamis)
glad he's ok. welcome to my world
Dianne
I yi yi-- That poor guy-- and you poor parents. That must be soooo hard for all of you.
On more than one occasion I've breathed a sigh of relief that Godson has not gone to the hospital on my watch-- close, but not yet :-)
I hope Cole is feeling better.
jj
I grew up a block from a hospital, and I still remember one of the kids I grew up with's father running down the street with a busted headed kid in his arms. The family had four very very very very very active kids, and I think there was always at least one of them with stitches in their head at any given time, and I'll bet every time was as scary for their parents as the first.
yikes, poor little guy. luckily my cole takes after me and is very aware of putting his body in danger...
i will remember this...
glad all is well.
i've missed you.
much love
Poor little guy. I hope he heals quickly. One of my daughters had a total of four different trips to the ER for stiches in her head. Geeze
Oh no. I do hope he is ok. My youngest is like this totally. Fell on an ice skate of the person who fell in front of him and lacerated his lip in two. If it wasn't for good surgery he woudl have had a speech impediment from then on.
Well, i wasn't much a boy. Only broke my collar bone when I was 4 and then nothing after that except for maybe a handful of bloody knees.
Nicely done as always, dear Brian.
that is some way to earn stripes, with a scar across his forehead.
maybe he needs ballet to learn to be gracefull... lol.
Stop by I have an award for you.
I hope they stitched him up an not stapled him. Kid would probably think it coo to look like Frankenstein's creation for awhile. Bays what can I say?
I hope is fine, I am sorry to hear this, he must have been so scared. But I know myself that this happens (my chin). At least he can boost about his scars later in life to potential girlfriends.;)
xo
Zuzana
That's such a shame, I was cringing while reading...hope all is OK now.
reading this just makes my stomac turn.
damn your family gets to visit the ER way too frequently lately. I hope he'll be ok. How is your mom recovering by the way?
Hey Brian,
i have been through soooo many accidents that i m always in and out of the ER :D
its like i have a bullseye painted on me :D .. broken bones, stiches.. the whole nice yards
guess i m more striped than a zebra now.!
ha! but its fun! :D
Boys will be boys is true. I have two boys (well, men now) both 18 and 21 and they were always getting hurt-quads, climbing, paintball-firecrackers-all the stuff that makes a mom shake her head... and wonder "why?!"
I hope he's okay.
I've had a few of those expereinces as well - including a memorable rush to the ER with my son's broken arm. And my younger son hs a mighty scar up the back of his neck and head from brain surgery. I tell him (and I believe it) that scars add character.
Well, thanks for starting that off in such a horrible way...you scared me! Boys are a major trial in the accident dept. Between my two sons, they had 8 breaks & trips to ER by the time they were 16. True! The older one has now surpassed the younger with arthroscopy on his knee (snowboarding tricks) and a bike accident w/ a car @ college plus appendicitis. All previous accidents were play/sports related. You are in for it.
Mate I feel his/your pain. I have many scars myself.
Nothing worse than hearing the screams of your own child in pain. This is the stuff of nightmares! Hope all is well now.
I was really worried when I first read the post.
My number two earned more stripes than his brother. The ones on his chin were repeats. I can't bear it even thinking about them now.
Poor little buddy. Glad to hear everything's okay. Our first son was so accident prone. I lost track of how many times he had to be stitched up. Frightening experience, a child in the ER.
Yes...kids and there adventures.
My Kenzie had 3 ER visits between age 3 and 4 and last year (2008) we had a huge mess when she fell head first (mouth/teeth first) while giving a friend a piggy back ride.
JOY!
Ouch...
Oh Brian, what you must be feeling and going through during these times. It just seems like boys put their parents through many more of these situations then the girls do. Although I was a tomboy as a girl and probably got hurt more than my brothers. I would get so many stitches that they just stopped taking me to the doctors and my dad just pulled them out on his own. I even pulled some out. Good news is that the boys are okay and in a few weeks Cole will be showing off his stitches and scars. I to this day can still show off all of my scars. It is like a map of your life. Just keep the stories alive and then the boys will always remember things going on in their lives.
Prayers for you and the boys are being sent your way.
God bless.
Earning stripes...yes. Any active child must. But oh boy, it's so agonizing to be witness to it. Felt a bead of sweat pop on my brow, reading this.
xo
oh the pains of growing up. both for the little ones and the grown-ups...
I think grown up boys have a better perspective for the ER visit. You see it as earning stripes. For me, I still feel like I'm going to pass out. And we are frequent fliers at our local ER. Ack.
Hope your boy is feeling better.
i would have been panicked stricken! although, i would have remained calm during the ordeal, i always breath a heavy sigh and crumble when i know all is alright.
thanks for sharing the story(ies) and i'm glad he's going to be okay.
warm smiles,
when we got home from the ER...he had a hard time understanding why he could not ride his scooter...so we went bungie jumping and he forgot all about it. i'll get around to posting pics of both eventually. smiles.
Oh no poor boy, poor poor dad and mom...does anything hurt more than you child's pain, and still it never stops them, beautiful and heartwrenching give him a canadian maple syrup kiss on the cheek for me :)
Oh close call- they say screams are good- where there's screams, there's life- but no comfort, I know.
So glad he is ok :)
Poor lad, hope he'll be okay now. I bet he was a brave soldier, not sure about his Dad though. Chin up, Brian... smiles.
Stop it. YOu're scaring me....
Oh gosh! Those are some terrifying moments. Put some vitamin E on his forehead and hopefully, it won't scar too bad.
Oh Brian, this is one of the reasons I say "Parenthood, it's not for wimps."
I hope that you and your boys stay safe.
Smiles.
Man, I can feel this one. Maybe it's also different with this kind of thing between sons and daughters. However, no parent can bear this type of sight.
Oh, my! Logan is having a bad run! My Princess Sugar Plum made it through her childhood without one trip to the ER. But once she got a car and license...four accidents. I hope that your sweet one gets it all out of his system early!
P.S. You're the first to leave a comment on my new blog! Thanks!
~Angela
Let's look at the bright side of things, it's just stitches. Heaven forbid it could have been a lot worse you know? :) And . . . It sounds like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree! ;)
Boys, indeed. I'm glad he is ok.
How is your mom doing?
Brian - Hope little man Cole is doing okay after seeing the doc today. Keeping your Mom, Cole and all of you in our prayers!
Ouch... It's good to earn your stripes, or stitches, but painful too.
Whoops! I forgot to send my best wishes for sweet little Cole! He'll probably incorporate the scar he gets out of this, into some elaborate story to impress a girl in the future:)
oh my word that is so scary. we had a similar incident with my daughter when she was 10 months old.
Owie!!! I too hope he is alright. Yes those screams do stay with you! You will remember at the oddest moments.
Hugs
SueAnn
Glad he's OK....Boys will be boys, until they are men who act like boys!
Poor guy and poor you!
It's tough, I know. My youngest son had a total of 137 stitches in his young life. Tonka trucks, swings, doors, you name it, he made contact with it. And head wounds bleed something awful.
Oddly enough, he's a trauma nurse now. So hang in there. It gets better, I swear.
I have two daughters and two sons - and all of my emergency room visits were with my boys ! They, and I, earned our stripes. And I also hope your son heals quickly.
yep...frightening moments.
my middle boy got a huge gash in his leg one day, ugly--needed stitches. His question coming into the apartment:
'I am going to die?'
Trying not to laugh at a bleeding 6 year old is hard work.
ouch and eek Brian!!
.... and I have 2boys and 1girl and I KNOW those sounds, those gut churning feelings that swiftly arrive when the sirens (screaming) sound.
Hope he is feeling better and tell your Mom to keep her chin up, 8 weeks feels like forever but out of a lifetime it is merely a blink. I hope she is comfortable.
xxsm
How AWFUL!
I am so glad he is okay and that it wasn't worse.
He didn't need to earn THAT many stripes, did he?
A big hug from his Dad will help a LOT though...
and some stories of what happened to you when you were his age will also help wonders....
Poor little guy!! I think sometimes these things are worse on us than on the kids!!
We had a memorable year when Con had to have stitches out at Urgent Care on Christmas Day.
That was a barrel of laughs.
Poor Cole!
Terrifying! Brian, I'm so sorry it happened. Those are stripes we don't want them to earn.
Gah! You know it's going to happen, it's inevitable. You even look back with pride on the scars you carry, but it sucks a little life out of you every time it happens to them.
Oh I had no idea!That must have been scary!Thanks God nothing serious happened.
I had a bike accident at age 11 and smashed my front teeth. I can only imagine what my parents thought when my angel of mercy (the man around the corner) carried me up to the front door and they answered the bell.
Thank goodness your boys have made it through these scrapes. It must be awful to see your child go through that.
Ah, like those Red Badges of courage. Hope he is doing better. It is scary. Only one trip to the E.R. for my three kids so far. Believe it our not, it will probably be my daughter who'll be there most often. She's already ruined more knees in her pants that her two older brothers combined. And she's much more trusting or kamikaze, I can't decide.
How was he with the stitches?
Head tramas are the worst. Besides the obvious dangers it is the one place where blood never seems to be endless.
I'm glad he's alright.
Ugh, I cringed all the way through this! I remember the first time I saw my daughters blood -- from an accident I mean. She was riding her little toy thing in the house and bloodied her lip. Her dad and I totally freaked out. She was fine until she saw us! Ahhh, to be a young parent. Now I'm like, HEY you're bleeding on my SHIRT!!
haha
glad he's okay...
A scream is a horrible thing to have stuck in your mind. I'm very glad he's ok. I've earned my fair share of stripes.
What's that saying - by the grace of God? or something like that? Childhood is rough - and so is parenthood! Glad to hear he was okay - it was probably harder on you!
Hope your mom has a speedy recovery!
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