Dear Carianne

This has been a traumatic time for Kate. What . . . with her broken leg, the hurt, the inability to walk, the pink cast with sparkles, the learning to get around with one straight leg and one good leg, the hurt again, the terrifying electric buzzer to remove the cast (knowing she thought her leg was going, too) to discover the blister forming on her heel inside, the new brace, knowing her leg is still broken . . . What is a 3 year old to think? I feel for her and want to cry whenever I see her big smile, anyway. Dear Kate.

I remember Carianne's trip to the doctor when she was 6. She was on a trampoline, too. She landed just wrong, and that was the end of the perfect bone in her arm. We could tell it was broken. She was scared, too. She cried softly for fear of what would happen next. They patched her up after a couple of days, with a white cast ( whoever invented color casts since then is a hero). She wore it obviously. For such a little girl to have such a big heavy cast, she could easily have tipped over whenever she stood up. Then six weeks or so later, the cast was off. Ahhhhhh. .
. .Until soon after when she was on the swing in the back yard and took an unsteady spill. That's right, we could tell it was broken. . . again.

I had been at the pharmacy for the first break, and when I wandered in after the second, the pharmacist sized me up pretty good. Politely, and unexpectedly, she explained that if she didn't know me, she might worry about abuse in our household. That caught me off guard. I'm glad she knew me, but now I felt worse.

Broken bones are no fun. Especially when you are that age and wake up running.

Today is Carianne's birrthday. It's been a few years since the "rerun" of her broken arm. It's amazing how we heal and carry on, almost forgetting about our mishaps. It's also amazing how fast we turn into mothers. Life is a blessing. Carianne is a blessing.

Happy Birthday, Carianne!
You are a WONDER FULL mother . . . just ask Kate!

I love you, dearly
Mom