Alert

Today when I arrived at my friends home, I found her kneeling at the top of her staircase, holding a wad of toilet paper against her right ear. It was red with blood and I was immediately eager get inside. He daughter was on the stairs yelling to me to come in, but she had to unlock the door first. What I found was two very distraught kids and my wounded friend in shock.

She had been vaccuming the stairs when the vaccum cleaner fell on top of her, hitting her on the ear. It had torn her ear ring out, tearing her earlob. She was in a lot of pain, and I was glad to be there. Apparently it had just happened minutes before I arrived. Her bleeding had stopped, but the hit on her head left her a bit disoriented for a while. The kids were so glad I was there. They had seen their mother suffer physical abuse from their father for many years and are very sensitive to any pain she feels. They see me as their protector and someone they can trust. They know I will never hurt them.

After a bit of rest, and lots of time to reassure the kids, she was ok, life started to return to normal. Asside from a painful ear, and jaw, she was feeling much better. After so many years of being beaten, she has developed great pain tollerance. The earlob never did swell, and closed up on it's own, so she did not want to see a doctor.

The rest of the day was spent with the kids down by the lake, letting them have fun at the playground. We just sat and rested, watching them play. She feels safe with me. That evening, we all enjoyed a wonderful, yet simple dinner together, before putting the tired kids to bed.