Comic Relief courtesy of Easter

Ok, Easter is really a serious and holy time of year...and I in no way am intending to make any fun of Easter.  However, Easter is also a time when families and friends get together to enjoy special quality time in each others' presence.  And, of course, we all know that at any large gathering of said family and friends there is always the potential for, well, ANYTHING to happen.  And, of course, with my family...that is usually what happens!  But, THIS Easter, was even more memorable thanks to a couple of consecutive events that are the kind that you basically just have to laugh at - at least looking back on it now - because it is truly much better than the alternative.

So...I should have known we were in for the start of a potentially eventful time when the first thing happened that should have clued me in.  At the time, it seemed like no big deal, even a potential tragedy that was quickly avoided.  But, looking back, I see that it was Event 1 of 3, as minute as it was in and of itself.

So...Event 1...As we were walking through my grandfathers driveway toward his house, my husband briefly lost step with me.  Not figuratively, literally.  I glanced back and said, "What happened?" as he was just about a step behind now.  "I just stepped on that little piece of a tree limb and almost twisted my ankle."  My response, "Ouch, that would have hurt.  Glad it didn't happen."  And we kept walking.  Potential accident diverted.

A few minutes later...I had not even sat my purse down inside the house yet...Event 2...My husband comes toward me with this Deer-in-the-headlights look on his face (not common to him...he's usually very calm, cool, collected, & assured in his outward appearance) and he manages to say, "Your aunt...she just fell..." and he is kind of pointing toward the front yard area.  Though I have not done actual patient care in over 3 years, my ICU / Trauma Nurse instincts did miraculously kick in.  I remained calm, as you have to do in any such situations, and I quickly headed outside.  There was my precious 69 year old aunt lying on the sidewalk surrounded by family and blood...literally, just below her on the sidewalk was a large amount of her blood and it was still dripping down from her face.  Anyway, so I came up and just started talking to her as I started looking at the areas of her faced that were bleeding.  She was thankfully very alert and in very good spirits.  As I uncovered her forehead, I saw a very large gash that I knew without question would need stitches.  I also saw a couple of other smaller cuts that were bleeding, as well as some bruising on her cheek.  So, I instructed someone to call 911 (emergency response) and get them to come take her and get her cleaned up, stitched up, and checked out.  They called.  In the mean time, we were all out there together visiting as I was standing there holding pressure to these bleeding spots on her face.  Mind you, there are still many people slowly arriving to join our family Easter affair.  My lovely aunt got to meet her brother's new wife for the first time as she (my aunt) was sitting here in this disjointed state on the sidewalk.  The new wife I mentioned is a precious lady who JUST moved here from Malaysia!  What a way to meet for the first time!  Anyway, soon the ambulance and another emergency vehicle arrived and they took over assessing and caring for her as well as strapping her to the stretcher and loading her in the ambulance.  During that time, another cousin and her family arrived to only be able to say hi to her as she was rolling away on the stretcher waving at us all.  Mind you, this cousin that had just arrived did see the ambulance headed toward the house as she and her family were driving toward our street.  And, she was hoping this emergency vehicle visit was merely the result of one of those 911 calls that one of our youngest family members has been known to make now that she learned to use the phone.  But, of course, that was not the case this time.  Thankfully, we all remained calm and there was no major harm done to my aunt in this situation.  (Later we were told that she did get stitches and she does have a broken nose, but all CT Scans and X-rays turned out otherwise benign.  In other words, no brain injury nor spinal injury.  Those are my main concerns.And, by the way, she did not trip on the tree limb that my husband had stepped on.  She just lost her footing on the sidewalk while walking and talking like we ladies do so well.)  Oh, yeah, and another cousin informed me that during this whole scene, my 4 year old son (who was watching through the front glass door) told my aunt's 40+ year old son "It's okay.  She will be okay.  My mommy's a nurse in a hos-pi-tal.  She is the best!"  Awww....

Ok...so where's the comic relief in all of that!?!  Well, there's more...

Then, only a few minutes after the ambulance left...Event 3...My cousin (yes I do have a bunch of cousins, but this one is the same one that arrived with her family at the same time the ambulance did) anyway, my cousin was in the kitchen stirring something and her feet were getting tired in her Easter Sunday heels, so she had propped her knee up on the padded seat of one of the kitchen chairs.  Next thing I know, somebody's coming to get me to look at her leg!  Mind you...I do not take care of patients anymore...they are really giving me a run for my money here!!!  Anyway, I go into the kitchen and my mother is handing my cousin a ziploc bag of pecans from the freezer to put on her leg.  Apparently the chair under her knee gave way and the seat fell through.  She had a pretty bad bruise on her shin but no bleeding nor swelling at the time.  Again, we all visited and joked as she sat there with it propped up on another one of those chairs.  Things soon calmed down, and though she was hurting, it didn't seem to be that bad.  Until later, after we had left, I found out that she, too, had gone to the Emergency Room!!!!  It apparently started swelling and getting red and warm.  They checked her out and it was not broken or anything, so they just treated her and let her go home.

Soooo.....Like I said in the beginning...none of this was outright funny at the time, though everyone remained calm and in our family's normal good spirits about it all the whole time.

The comic relief comes as you look back on it and, like I said, with the whole day's events in mind, you just have to laugh!  I know, I know, you may not see it that way, but you know you have had the same kind of days in your life with your family or friends or just yourself...when you know all is ultimately okay...just laugh...it's okay...and it truly is usually much better than the alternative. 

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,"  Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4