IT'S A NEW WORLD
Summer was a long time coming this year. There were a few days
after I moved in that were sunny and brought thoughts of balmy
temperatures, but a weekend of snow followed and then several weeks of
damp, chilly-breeze days. When weather was miserable, Brandon and Sophia
played in the sunroom; when warm, they played outdoors.
One evening toward the end of May, Brandon was on the treadmill at their home and Sophia put
her hand between the moving belt and housing. The result was a third degree
friction burn about three inches long and one-half inch wide extending from just above her wrist
toward her elbow.
She was seen by a burn specialist at Akron Children's Hospital the day after the
accident and Dawn received detailed instructions on caring for the wound. Sophia, the
little trooper, has been an excellent patient and was stoic every evening as Dawn cleaned
and redressed her arm. Short of putting her in "time out", nothing has slowed Sophia
down. It hasn't particularly bothered her, but the adults in her life have suffered
major cases of angst. Sophia was not
allowed to get her arm wet, so was diligent about playing in water with only her left hand
or wearing a plastic bag over the bandage when running through the lawn sprinkler or
participating in throwing water balloons with my neighbors' grandchildren Christian and
Kelsi. |
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| On the climbing wall |
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| On the slide |
Finally, a little under two weeks after the mishap, the doctor recommended skin grafting, saying that her arm would heal faster and with less scarring with intervention. And so it was done.
Sophia came home from surgery the same
day it was performed. She spent the
afternoon sleeping on the couch with her arm elevated.
The morning following her surgery, Sophia was back to being her regular self. Wearing the gold medal awarded to her by Brandon, she rode her blue big wheel and
explored ways to accommodate her Michelin-Man forearm.
The summer's been filled with busy-ness.
Christian and Brandon, although a
year apart in age, are very similar in interests and spend their days here in the complex in
each other's company. Sophia is a year older than Kelsi and is intent on coordinating
their time together. One July morning Grandma Sherry and I took the four on a walk along
a nearby towpath of the Ohio and Erie Canal. While we pushed the girls in
strollers, the boys pedaled their bikes.
Summer heat was overcome with frequent visits to the wading pool or the sprinkler.
On a mid-July Saturday, Dawn and I visited the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo with Brandon
and Sophia.
Sophia didn't like riding the camel and cried as the animal slowly
made a circuit of the ring. Later, tears gone, Sophia declared, "I not like
that camel," but she also had a look of pride on her face. Fortunately her fright
had been overcome by her spirit of adventure.
