Status Update

So, to everyone who exhorted me to look for the silver linings, to make lemonade, to trust the hidden purpose to my son's injury, there is this:

We still don't know if the ankle is fractured though he had the X-ray this afternoon. The doctor is supposed to read it later today and call him if there is a fracture, in which case they will have to put the foot in a cast. So far no call, but my son says that all signs point to a fracture. Sitting in the training room icing his ankle and with his cell phone to his ear, he was telling me all about what was going on inside his joint in medical terms, and I was rather impressed by the depth and sophistication of his knowledge and the clarity of his explanations. I said, "So you're learning a lot by having to treat this injury." He said, "Well, I already knew most of it, but it really reinforces what you know when you're going through it yourself."

Tonight he is going to the NCAA basketball tournament being hosted by his school, and it occurred to me, he could meet the love of his life tonight or maybe just someone who becomes a friend for life, or he could simply have a good time with his roommates and that is a silver lining too.

He has been all over the campus on his crutches today, avoiding patches of ice, climbing up hills he never noticed were so steep before, and he seems to be getting a handle on things. His equanimity has reasserted itself. And there is also this: On his Facebook page, under his status that says, "just destroyed my ankle. Goodbye ECACs" (the Eastern Conference Athletic Championships that he was supposed to compete in this weekend), there is a growing string of sympathetic comments, from a young lady offering to redecorate his room this weekend since he will be dorm bound, to this message from one of his fellow trackies: "You may be poor in ankle-health, but seeing as roughly 30 people have already commented on this, you are rich in friends."

I think he's going to be fine.