Hot on the heels of my daughter’s birthday last week, the school both children attend cranked up its fundraising efforts for a number of good causes this past week too. The children would be taking part in a sponsored walk, and with sponsorship assured the early indications were that the school would raise around £50,000 for multiple good causes. A tremendous effort.
On the route around the course the children visited staging posts and had a laminated piece of card stamped to show that progress was being made and good order preserved. It was the combination of those things plus the youthful exuberance of the children in getting stamped that led to a fluke accident and my son’s eyeball coming into contact with someone else’s laminated piece of card. Ouch, ouch and ouch! Sharp, painful and unexpected.
His mum was there as a helper, albeit with another group of children, and was able to comfort him in the exceptionally far sighted (no pun intended) first aid facility which in previous years had proved invaluable. A visit thereafter to the optician showed his eyball had been sliced top to bottom and was very painful. Thankfully there was no immediate threat to his sight and the healing process is quick (they reckoned a few weeks) albeit he was patched up (literally) after some antiseptic was adminsitered.
I then received all of this news, or the upsum of it really, via SMS on a train whilst travelling home from London. That was hard, as any of you who have been away from home when an accident with children happens. The information is patchy (that word again) and you feel terrible for not having been there, although that is an impractical thought. As parents we would all rather bear the pain of our children and find it distressing to see them distressed. My wife coped brilliantly well as ever and by the time I arrived home he was sound asleep in pirate patch land.
All is well so far and after a return visit to the optician after the weekend of the flower fairy party, pantomime rehearsals and a sleepover at a friends house, he toddled off to after school soccer none the worse. A piano lesson and homework session later he was heading to bed but asked for a photo of his granny, my mother, who lost her remarkable battle to cancer just over a year ago. He takes solace in the memories of what was a deep and meaningful relationship for him from the day he was born until she passed on to glory. She is still able to comfort and care for her grandchildren in her physical absence because she was present so much in their lives. Those memories are strong.
Our much wanted son and private miracle will be fine, the effects of the eye accident will pass into memory and there may be a faint line on his eye to deal with in life.
As parents we wince and hurt as our children hurt, and I was just thinking about how much more our Creator winces and hurts when we hurt.
Cam, you were a brave pirate and both mum and dad love you very much. Granny does too. XX
