Bryan Franklin

Spencer broke his arm in two places! But that wasn’t the worst part…

584 days ago

Spencer (just 6) was happily jumping on a trampoline at Jennifer’s family reunion in Dallas this weekend. Once or twice I heard a scream of delight – and had to double check to make sure it wasn’t the other kind of scream. I even said at one point, “hold on – I just want to make sure that’s a happy sound, not a broken leg sound.”

And then I heard the other kind of scream. Unmistakable. He was sitting down holding his arm, barely able to catch his breath between screams. Spencer’s a really tough kid. Normal bumps and bruises that might send a normal kid wailing often are laughed off with a shrug. One time he fell off his new bike and scraped up his knee. He jumped up and looked at me and said, “That was funny! My new bike doesn’t know how to steer!”

So I knew right away this was pretty serious. 90 minutes later we are at the Emergency Room, and Spencer is asking about the function of everything in sight. “What’s that for? What’s that thing do? What do they call that? Why is that up there instead of down on the ground?”

Other than a couple of rough patches (moving his arm to get a good x-ray was not Spencer’s idea of fun) he was in great spirits. Here is the arm. I’m no doctor, but it looks painful to me!

The next day he said, “You know, breaking my arm was actually kind of fun,” We talked about all the attention he was getting (and would get) The fun gurney ride with Jennifer into and out of radiology. All the stuff he learned about at the hospital. Not only was he able to accept his new situation, but he embraced it fully. Surrendered to life as it is – while dedicated to make it what you want it to be. An incredibly inspiring example of appreciating the present state – whatever it may be.

On the plane ride home I asked him, “What was the best part of your trip to Dallas?”

“Seeing Jennifer!”

“What was the worst part?” I asked.

Holding back a laugh he said, “Duh! Breaking my arm!” But then he paused…
In a serious tone, “No. Actually that isn’t a bad part at all. The real worst part was saying goodbye to Jennifer. I wish we could have spent more days with her.”

I think as parents, we teach our children with who we are. More than what we say, they are watching us every moment. It made me a very proud daddy to see how he could handle a situation as scary as breaking an arm – that he made it fun wherever possible. That he stayed (mostly) present. That he sees connections to loved ones as the most important, most life-giving aspects of our experience.

He reminded me to do the same.

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