Yes, it’s August in Richmond. Hotter than hot, we’re all desperately trying to squeeze everything into summer we have yet to accomplish – beach trips, pool visits, splashes through the sprinkler, and the dreaded back-to-school shopping. We here at RFM are anxiously awaiting one of our favorite Richmond events of the year, the Anthem Moonlight Ride on August 17. Will we see you under the full moon to take in the sights and sounds of the city, two-wheeled style? I hope so!
One of the things I love most about the summer is the daily opportunity for spontaneity. Sure, there are still plenty of obligations (like that little thing called work), but without the structure of the school schedule, chances for a day – or week – of fun abound. We enjoyed a great week at the Outer Banks in June that was planned exactly eighteen hours before we left for the coast. One day in July, what started out as a ho-hum Sunday turned into a fantastic day of boating and tubing with friends on Lake Anna, complete with side-splitting laughter as my son and I bounced over the waves together in a giant tube. A summer visit from a college roommate and her three kids afforded us a chance to share the historic sites of Richmond with our New Jersey friends.There’s nothing better than playing hooky to show off the James River, Tredegar Ironworks, and the Virginia Historical Society!
During that visit, we had just finished up a fantastic Mexican feast when a blood-curdling scream came from the living room. The words that came next were what truly terrified me: “My bone is broken,” said my five-year-old son. His s-shaped forearm corroborated his claim.In a fl ash, we were on our way to what I can now report is a lovely dedicated pediatric ER at St. Mary’s Hospital. From the backseat of the car, I could see my husband’s furrowed brow in the rearview mirror.With very little to worry about (yes, I did knock on wood as I typed that) up to now, I have rarely seen this look on his face. The next three hours were spent watching my baby scream, cry, then morph into the product of some serious pain relievers and sedation medication (picture Cheech or Chong but without the giant bag of Cheetos). The selfish part of me thought about the next week’s spontaneous beach trip that was no longer going to happen and the pool membership that was now not going to pay for itself. How could this have happened to our spectacular summer? After a day of jumping off cannons and leaping from rock to rock by the James, how do not one, but two bones break in half simply by falling off the arm of a chair? But the motherly part of me thanked God that it wasn’t any worse and prayed for him to not be in too much pain. I wished that I could put myself in that hospital bed in his place. And I thought again, Yes, you never know where a summer day will lead you.
And I guess, believe it or not, it will lead back to school before we know it! So enjoy this last month of summer and of course, this issue of RFM!
