I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes.
Ever since the kids were little we would camp at Memorial State Park, Pescadero, every summer around this time… we used to go with the same three families -- most years we were 20 people, give or take…We booked the same five sites under a canopy of eucalyptuses and created fairy trees, rope swings, camp fires, and many a gourmet meal.
Some of the kids were still in diapers when we first started going and this summer will be the first that we won’t be together….We shared, we laughed, we cried and we co-parented… and in a very special way became aunts and uncles to one another’s kids… I’ll always be their Auntie Vics.
One summer, after one too many camping cocktails, I decided to just go for a pee over there… The sun had gone down so I ventured out away from the BBQ where everyone was sitting…
After I had successfully completed the maneuver, pulled up my sweats, I turned round and immediately tripped… and landed straight down on top of a very large round brick fire pit with a double metal rim.
For a split second I had to process that it was empty and I wasn’t on fire… And then the pain kicked in… I literally rolled off the top onto the ground with a huge thud onto my back and winced loudly…Everyone came running... the pain was so bad that I couldn’t even contain the fact that I was so badly hurt from the kids.
Thankfully someone had some left over vicodins, which managed to get me through the night... but my chest, my hips and my ankle were killing me.
By the time we got home, I was purple… John took me to the ER and I had to show photos of the culprit for fear I looked like a battered wife.
My right boob looked like an aubergene, my hip like a petrol puddle and there was a huge gouge on my right shin where I had tripped on the handle of the crate that unbeknownst to me had been placed next to the fire pit while not in use.
In time everything healed... but to this day I still have a notch on the front of my right leg…Every time I look at it, I’m reminded of those special camping trips and my amazing friends who I’ve known for so many years and who I love so much.
It’s my happy scar and a reminder of incredible memories that will be with me forever.
Yay for happy scars. :)