Get Up Again

"I get knocked down but I get up again
You're never gonna keep me down..."
-Lyrics from Tubthumping, by Chumbawumba

The immortal lyrics of one-hit-wonder, Chumbawumba, ran through my head as I looked at the laughing faces of family members. We had Zoomed to celebrate John's birthday, and the conversation descended somewhat riotously into "do you remember" stories about each sibling's escapades with John. The story they chose to tell about me centered on John and Carol's wedding reception, when I stumbled halfway down the staircase during the announcement of the bridal party. Thank goodness for the slight but strong young man who was escorting me down the sweeping staircase as hundreds of guests looked on. I almost separated his shoulder as I clattered down the steps in front of him, but he valiantly held on and saved me from going head over heels.

My sister loves that story because I asked her, when we finally sat down at the head table, if anyone saw me fall. I was thinking maybe half of the room missed out.  She looked me in the eye and said, "I'm not gonna lie, Laura. Everyone saw you."

Everyone credits this fall to the amount of alcohol I drank prior to the reception, whereas I know it was due to the heel breaking off my shoe at exactly the wrong moment. My kids had never heard the story and were quite interested in the telling. Noticing this, I held up my hands to stop any more truth-telling from the troublemakers onscreen, and they saw the heavy application of band-aids on my palms. "What did you do now?" someone asked.

I had to explain the painful and ridiculous fall I had taken off my bike earlier that day, having reached for my water bottle while hitting a bump at the same inauspicious moment. My left hand instinctively grabbed the brake and I shot over the handlebars with hands and hips straight to the gravel as the bike ground to a halt.

"You fall down a lot," said one helpful brother.

"I do. But I always get back up!"

I had to defend myself in front of the kids, and it occurred to me that I would rather them see me wipe out and recover than think I never fell or made mistakes. I'm still limping and nursing the wounds in my hands, but I got back on my mountain bike yesterday (with new gloves, hurray!) and went 21 miles in the hills. In this newly curtailed world there are fewer opportunities for adventure and exploration and I am going to take the chances I get, even if I get bumped or bruised. If I fall down, I get up again.

Stay well and safe.
xoxo
Laura