Letter to Dragon: "My father broke my arm"

“That is some cast. How did that happen?”

Dragon, loud and clear, “My father broke my arm.”

Wait what!? Dragon!

The parking attendant’s face froze. I interjected quickly. “Dragon, your father did not break your arm.”

Indignation retorted loudly, “yes, he did! He hit it with a ball!”

Arrgggghhh

I retorted clear enough for the man to hear our conversation, “yes, but you two were playing soccer. It was an accident.”

“Yea, but still!”

Oh my gosh my beautiful son - thank you for this tale. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to navigate the kind curiosity of the world. Thank you for teaching me the phrase: buckle fracture. Thank you for being a starfish of amazing healing.

It is amazing the number of people who use a cast on a child’s arm as an opportunity for conversation. From the merely polite to the genuinely curious.

After some discussions, this was the conversation a few days later.

“Look at your arm little man. What happened to you?”

“Would you like the long story or the short story?”

The kind woman looked bemused, “You want to be a comedian! Give me both.”

“Okay.” A deep breath. A pause. I could see the wheels turning.

“Dragon, why don’t you start with the short story.”

“The short story is that my arm broke when playing soccer.”

“Oh!” Sympathy and concern from the stranger. A pause.

Another pause. The kind woman waited.

“Dragon, do you want to share the long story?”

A pause.

“My sister, Bean, had soccer practice and Dadda and I were playing with the ball. He kicked the ball really hard. I was playing goalie. I put out my hand to stop the ball. Like this.” He extended his right arm way out. “The ball pushed my hand back. Like this.” Furrowed brow concentration ensued as one hand pushed fingers back back back.

A pause.

Total exultation and a big smile. “The good news is that I saved the goal!”