I have a 'lawnmower' foot. What? You heard me. I have a 'lawnmower' foot. For those who know me, they are aware that years ago I had an accident. I am sure you can probably guess what it involved. It was traumatic and astonishing - for me. For those of you who don't know the story, it really does bear repeating:
On Friday, August 23, 2002 (yes, I remember the exact day) I was mowing the yard with our lawn tractor in the evening. We live in the country and for whatever reason, the yard had managed to grow to extreme excess. Our yard suffers from some ugly, wild weeds that will grow 6-8" a day in height. The yard was so completely covered in these weeds that the lawn tractor would only go forward about 10 feet and then the weeds would strangle the blades and the tractor would die. I would have to get off of the tractor, pull weeds from the side of the tractor deck, get back on the tractor and restart the thing (this required de-activating the blades, lifting the deck with a handle that was very difficult for me to move, placing the tractor back in neutral, adjusting the choke, blah, blah, blah - it took a bit). Our yard is fairly large and the sun was setting fast; I only had a small patch of yard to finish and the tractor had died for the umpteenth time. I really needed to get that yard finished while I could still see and I had reached a point of increasing irritation with the dying mower. This time, rather than get off of the mower when it died, I just reached down with my foot to kick the weeds loose (they were sticking out from under the deck). However, to my horror, as I kicked the weeds the mower blades sucked my foot under the deck - it had not actually died and as soon as the weeds were kicked loose, the blades flew into motion. There was a truly horrible sound that I cannot fathom how to spell out on a keyboard. Then in a gymnastics feat that I could not possibly duplicate again, I held my foot in the air directly in front of my face. My canvas tennis shoe was in tatters and I could not see my toes!
I mentally calculated that I had about 20 seconds before my brain realized what I had done to myself and the pain would hit me. I jumped off of the mower and began hopping to the house (I believe that I would have qualified for the Olympics in hopping). As I reached the door, it flew open and my oldest daughter, Andrea, asked, "Are you okay - I heard you screaming!" Screaming? I had no idea I was screaming. "I think I cut my toes off. Come to the bathroom with me and we are going to pray for my foot." Yes, that is what I was going to do. To my youngest daughter, "Call your Dad (he was working 30 miles away) and get me four Tylenol. NOW!" As I sat down on the side of the bathtub, my 20 seconds were up and the world within my body exploded. Oh my gracious! If I had been a cartoon character, you would have seen lightning bolts shoot out of every hair follicle on my head! The pain was astonishing and sharp. Every few seconds I emitted involuntary shrieks that I could not suppress. I turned my body toward the faucets in the bathtub, knowing that I needed to try to take off the shoe and view the carnage. I still could not see my toes. I remember exactly what I prayed in the most sincere and earnest prayer that could come from my lips, "Lord, please let me keep my toes. But if You don't, thank you for letting me have them as long as You did." I meant every teary word. I really wanted to keep my toes, but if I didn't get to, I was so thankful that I was able to have them for so many years. My Grandad had to have several of his toes amputated and I knew so many people, who had lost fingers in accidents. They all managed to function, and so would I. As I gingerly slipped the shredded shoe off of my foot - I was more than excited to see all five of my toes! The big toe was completely black, the other toes were various colors as well (mind you - it had only been about 45 seconds at this point), but they were all still attached to my foot. I truly did a lot of thankful praying at that point.
The emergency room doctor held my foot in his hand and asked, "Do you KNOW how lucky you are?" I said, "I know how Blessed I am". My big toe was broken, and my foot was slightly re-arranged. I had to wear one very ugly shoe for several months. I am the only one I have every heard of who has a good lawnmower horror story. You can look at my feet in all of the shoe pictures and see the little miracle I received.
Do You have a 'lawnmower' foot? I really do believe that everyone has something amazing that has happened to them, and that needs retelling. I am thankful Every Single Day that I have both feet intact so that I can walk unhindered and wear lovely shoes. I want that feeling of thankfulness for everyone.
Tell me your story. Ultimately, that is what the Closet Fairy is here for - to make you the most fabulous that you can be. It starts with you, your heart, your story.
God bless you richly. I know that He has blessed me!
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