20 20
Year of the Curveball By Krysta Murray
Sudden interruptions in our daily lives can leave us unsure of our next move, as I am currently experiencing.
diaper changes, but mostly my child watched a lot of TV for those two days. These health events have made me
And I am not even referring to
aware that our children need to know
COVID-19, although that counts too.
how to call 911. In Spain, I had to
In January of 2019 I was injured
teach my toddler how to use my cell
for the first time. Sure, I’ve had cuts
phone and call 112 and say “English”
and stitches growing up, illness that left
and hope they could trace the phone,
me bedridden, but nothing that left me
because we lived in a rural part of
physically impaired.
town on a dirt road with a Spanish
When I was overseas I remember
road name he could not pronounce. I
my friend had an emergency
make sure he knows where the closest
appendectomy and our husbands
neighbors are just in case.
were deployed at the time. She had
So back to January 2019, I went
a one-year-old and a dog at home.
for a run and came home with an ankle
Unexpectedly she couldn’t care for her
three times the size it should be and
child, she couldn’t even lift him up for
limping. I knew it was my time. My
a while. So friends came by, they stayed
husband was home and I am grateful
to care for her and her son, they left
for that, even though he had to take me
food until her husband could get back
to the emergency room in the middle
and help. It brought to mind that we
of his team’s football game. (We are
were each other’s family, but it scared
actually fans of competing conference
me to think, “Well this is all of us, it
teams in the NFL, so I added no one
could be any of us.”
cares about his team.)
I had a severe upper respiratory
I got lucky; it was just a sprain,
infection while we were overseas with
but it left me on crutches for a
my husband deployed. Fever, aches and
while, unable to drive, and on pain
chills had me on the couch, lethargic
medication. A neighbor took my son to
and weak. Thankfully it was just two
school for a week, a coworker drove me
days, and friends stepped in to help.
to the office for work, and after a time
They’d stop by with soup, ask if I
I could wear shoes and walk without
needed anything from the grocery store
aid. I made it through to recovery. I’m
and check in on us. I was coherent and
grateful for the child care my friends
able to get up for meal preparation or
provided while I went to doctor
P104 | Coronado Magazine
