Me and My Kind

~Cody Johnson

I suppose I should begin by saying, I’m fine. Everybody’s good. Having said that, we did not make it to Knoxville, on Wednesday. Mikayla had driven over to her high school, “real quick”, Wednesday morning. As I was making my breakfast shake, I got a phone call. It was Mikayla , informing me her car had just died, right at a very popular stoplight. First, I called Adam, and informed him of our situation. Then, I decided to drive over, and see what I could do to help. On my way to where she was, I could see her stranded car…and then, bam, I got into a minor accident. I have never, in my whole life, been in any kind of accident. Until, then. And, it was all my own fault. I was distracted, searching for my stranded daughter, and I didn’t even see it coming. I was able to tell Mikayla what happened, and make my way back home. Then, I had to make a second phone call, to Adam. I never thought he’d be mad at me, but I was expecting some frustration. Surprisingly, he was nothing but understanding and kind. There wasn’t one ounce of upset radiating out of his responses. Justin and Jackie met Mikayla, just as Adam was able to get there. They determined the issue was a very minor one, and fixed it within minutes. After that, everyone made their way back to our house, to examine the damage to my car. Fortunately, it too was very minor. Unfortunately, it was too late to make it to our appointment in Knoxville, to tour the college campus. That had to be cancelled, and rescheduled.

After Adam and Justin left, to get back to work, Jackie and I made mimosas. We still had champagne and orange juice leftover from Easter, and the circumstance just seemed appropriate. As we talked, in my kitchen, Jackie told me that Adam had mentioned he’d had a real bad feeling about our trip. He wasn’t upset at all, that it hadn’t worked out. For whatever reason, he’d been uneasy, so our misfortune didn’t bother him so much. That made me reconsider our morning. Maybe, just maybe, there really was a reason for all of our inconvenience. It could’ve been a blessing in disguise.

Later, that evening, the littles were dropped off. Well, 2 of them. The baby, Emma, was having surgery. She had her trachea removed, on Thursday! I kept the other 2 littles, while she was in the hospital.

We had a water balloon fight, and played outside. Everyone had a great time. And then…we had yet another accident. As I was picking up the baby chair, the tray slid out of position, and the chair fell onto Caroline. It hit her right beside her eye. I felt so incredibly awful. I was struggling not to cry, myself.

I got her an ice pack, gave her some Motrin, and snuggled her. After about an hour, she was back to playing. Kids are just so resilient and tough!

This morning, the littles watched TV with Adam. The baby was discharged from the hospital, and the littles got picked up. I had this afternoon to myself, and it was wonderful!

This evening, Adam grilled pork chops for us. We all sat around the table and teased and laughed about funny family stories. It was great. Now, I’m downstairs watching a movie with my dogs. Adam’s upstairs, watching the kids play on the Nintendo switch. I’m already just about ready for bed. It’s been a very loooong week.