Cold Case In Ellyson » injury

At a loss for words

admin — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:20:21 +0000

It’s an odd feeling for a writer to lose interest in writing. Give me joy, I can write. Give me saddness, I can write. But give me angst, and I’m just speechless. Days after my son’s football injury, he had a seizure in front of my husband and me and passed out. After another trip to the ER, they discovered my 13-year-old had a blood clot. Back in the hospital, blood thinners, nightmares, growth plate damage?, sleeplessness…we’ll it’s enough to make this writer put the pen aside. But I’m back. Some of that angst is leaving my heavy soul. Now it’s just worry. I can live with that.

Watching my 12-year-old take to the field after all this, my anxiety was great. I think his was, too. And when I heard the helmet-to-helmet crack, my knees went weak. But watching my phoenix rise from the ashes with a shake of his head and brushing off grass, well, it was then that I accepted that life does go on.

And if that weren’t enough

admin — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 13:59:24 +0000

four days later, my oldest son suffered a catastrophic injury on the football field, a femur fracture. Funny how that makes you forget about the overhead…

Too many times, we forget that our lives can change in a nanosecond…accidents can rock our world. My 13-year-old who’s reaching for independence is now as dependent as anyone can be. He can’t move without help. He can’t go to the bathroom, bathe, walk, crawl…it’s awful to watch. And coming on the heels of my youngest son’s recovery from his fractured humerus pitching a baseball, I have to say that 2010 has been a difficult year for our family.

The obvious solution is to say we’re through with sports, but that’s just not how we’re built. We love to run, challenge, jump, throw harder, catch, hit the ball, tackle, and I’m so grateful. Those who plant themselves on the couch miss out on so much. Sure, they may be safe, but I’d rather get hurt doing something I love than sit on the sideline any day. And my 13-year-old? He’s already said he can’t wait to play high school football. He should. He’s good, and he loves it.

Baseball’s more than a game

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:08:41 +0000

Baseball season has ended for my sons and not on a high note. Both participated in a World Series – my oldest’s team without heart and my youngest’s with soul. As an adult, you can see it – a team that gives up with the first thing goes wrong, a lack of mental toughness to carry them through difficulties – no heart…and a team that is stronger on the field, but lacks a sense of unity with or concern for each other – no soul. I don’t know which is worse…but I don’t think any team can be successful on the playing field without both.

My youngest gets this, without even knowing it…he suffered a season-ending and summer-changing injury on the mound. With a fellow teammate who wasn’t there, he had the following text exchange:

Connor: Did you hear what happened to me?
Friend: Yeah, that suxs.
Connor: Yep, but forget me. We (the team) are doing well…

Yep, there’s no “i” in team.