Posted: 3/3/06
One person breaks their ankle. Ouch! Everyone feels bad for them... and that’s when the competition starts!

I’ve witnessed this in two occasions in my life.

The first time, was with my parents. Competing for us kids’ love, I guess!

First, my mom fell down the steps and broke her ankle. As if that fall wasn’t rough enough, my dad apparently just had to ‘out-do’ her.

Now, let me take a moment here to say that my mom’s ankle was almost completely healed. It was really hard to keep her off of it, though.

My dad started bouncing on a trampoline at my aunt and uncle’s summer party.

Now, my dad isn’t really the clumsy type of person. He is more the type where bad things just happen to him; like breaking his ankle on a trampoline.

Now, he wasn’t doing any fancy tricks. It wasn’t because his bones are too weak from being middle-aged to bounce on a trampoline like a little kid.

It was because there was a lawn-chair underneath the trampoline.

Now, start laughing. Go ahead, I know everybody wants to. I am.

Nobody noticed that there was a chair underneath the trampoline.

My grandmother had put it there when she was cleaning around the pool area, and she had completely forgotten about it.

My mom saw it but - crunch - it was too late to save his ankle by then.

I guess he is lucky, though, because he was about to attempt a flip and probably would have done like one and a half flips and would have ended up breaking his neck.

Is that competition enough? No, my mom had to break her ankle again.

I don’t remember how she did it or anything, all I can remember is that it happened.

Luckily for us, my dad was completely healed by then so we didn’t have to take care of him.

Actually, he was back to work two days after it happened... despite the fact that he was supposed to have it propped up on the sofa with a pillow underneath it.

Now, as for my mom... she never gets lucky enough as to heal really fast when she breaks something. So, we had to make sure she stayed sitting.

I think taking care of your parents is just as bad as taking care of a bunch of kids.

But wait.

Somebody I know DOES have to take care of a bunch of kids - a bunch of kids with broken and sprained ankles.

Okay, so, it isn’t really a ‘bunch’ of kids... it is two kids - and they aren’t really ‘kids’ at all. One is 16 and one is 14.

Jamie Reynolds, in grade 11 at PALCS, sprained her ankle at work around three weeks ago.

Now, her brother Corey Reynolds, in grade 9 at PALCS, broke his ankle just the other day.

Jamie is yet to recover from her sprained ankle. She is back at work, but it is still giving her a lot of pain.

Now, why do people do that? As if one person with a broken ankle isn’t enough...

I have a message for their mom:

Put On a Happy Face…

And good luck!