Ouch!! A Christmas Memory

December 24, 2002 was a good Christmas but I was a bit stiff.  Let me tell you why.  

Growing up, I couldn't roller skate.  I liked to skateboard but I was uncomfortable on skates.  Flash forward to me being an adult with kids.  All the kids could roller blade so I felt pressured to learn.  Little by little, I got better at rollerblading.  I like blading now but don't do it that much.  

We live have a great location for all of us to blade.  The kids and I would play roller blade tag or other games that require one to go fast, take tight corners, and just be dangerous.  I got to the point that I was getting bored with these games so I decided to start jumping over things.  Now, I wasn't jumping over objects, just predetermined distances.  

I started small...jumping over cracks.  I kept adding distance until I decided that I would jump over the manhole cover a few feet into the street from our driveway.  I did this a few times and my confidence was growing.  

The day before Christmas found us skating.  I decided that I was going to jump over the manhole and a skid mark a few feet away from the manhole.  All together, the distance was 6 or 7 ft.  I jumped the distance a couple of times when I decided that we needed to get in the house but everyone could do one last thing.  I was going to do my jump again.  

The start gave me no indication of the disaster that was coming.  Even the initial jump was fine.  Of course, the start and jump meant nothing.  The landing was everything.  

When my wheels hit the ground, the skate flew forward out from under me.  Due to my forward motion, I was moving to a horizontal/sitting position.  This meant that the first part of my body that would hit the ground would be my tail bone.  

People often talk about how your life flashes before your eyes.  Well, I didn't see any of the that, but everything slowed to 1/2 a mile an hour.  When my tailbone hit, I could feel every vertebra in my back hit against the next.  Like dominoes, zzzziiippp, up my spine.  I hit square in that one area and slid along the ground.  

I lay there stunned and embarrassed.  I could hear the kids calling out to me, "Are you ok?'  "Dad, are you alright?"  I started accessing the damage.  Everything still seemed to be attached.  Check 1.  I don't see any blood.  Check 2  I can move...Check 3....as I started to roll over.  I stayed on my hands and knees for a moment and tried to breathe.  I could breathe.  Check 4  I'm alive  Check 5

I told the kids that we were done for the day.