Sauerkraut Broke My Bowl

I was reminded tonight of an event in my childhood. It's an event that still impacts me today. Mostly for the laughs. But also because it is the reason for the arthritis in my right wrist...LOL The summer between my 6th and 7th grade years, I was riding my mom's 10-speed bike rather fast down a hill and lost control. I flipped it while trying to break and I was sent flying through the air, landed half on the road and half in the grass, and my arm perfectly went straight into a trench that was recently dug next to the road for utilities that were being installed. As a result, my wrist was broken when it was trapped in that trench while the rest of me continued to fall away.

I was in too much pain to bring my wits to bear and couldn't find my way home. But my mind did remember that one of my neighbors was out in his yard and likely witnessed the whole thing. So, I cried out for his help. It was his yard and he was there quickly. He helped me up and took me to my house. I began to pass out and my parents did what they could to keep me alert. Yeah, it was that much pain...LOL They quickly got me in the family's minivan and off to the hospital we went. And I could feel every single bump in the road or stop we had to make for intersections...LOL

This was the only experience I've had where they put me under using general anesthesia. The doctor was concerned about the placement of the break. It was right at the growth plate in my wrist and I wasn't done growing yet...hehehe They felt that they would need to do surgery to carefully put my wrist back together. So, out I went! Luckily, they did find a way to push it all back without the surgery. But nonetheless, I was out. When I came-to in the recovery room, I was quite disoriented.

It took a while for me to get my mind from being all jumbled up. The nurse was trying to help me by asking questions. She asked how I broke my arm. To which I replied, "My mom did it..." Whoa?! She did what!? HAHAHA My parents were standing right there when I said it. My dad laughed, if I recall, and my mom was immediately shaking her head no with a shocked look on her face...HAHAHA The hospital staff interviewed my parents about it and they were ready to call our neighbor who witnessed the whole thing...LOL I don't recall how the story got straighten out, but at some point it was pieced together that I was trying to say, "I broke it while riding mom's bike." HAHAHA

Which brings to how this memory came to mind tonight. It had been a while, but I finally made rice again. I cooked up some fried rice for dinner and went about my evening per usual. Part of my routine is to wash my dishes by hand soon after dinner. The washing part went like usual without any issues. I prefer to dry everything after I'm finished washing instead of leaving it all in the dish drainer. As I was drying off the bowl I used for my rice, I got to thinking about how I wasn't sure what value sauerkraut was for my meals lately.

I mean, I do like it. But do I love it? I'm about to run out and started thinking about whether or not I'd add it to the grocery list or not. I got to thinking about how I liked the sour taste and that little bite it adds. And I thought about how I like the flavor profile it gives to the food I've been putting it on. I even thought about how I started using it in the first place. And I got to thinking about how I use a fork to get it out of the jar and put it on my food with the help of my other hand.

Then, all of a sudden, I lost my grip on the bowl I was drying with a towel...LOL In cinematic slow motion, the bowl left the towel and my hands and gravity pulled it to the floor. As the sound of the crash pierced my ears, the shattered pieces of what once held my dinner were scattering about the kitchen floor. In that moment, I realized, sauerkraut broke my bowl...dun dun ddduuunnn!!!

Because of my thoughts about how sauerkraut had broken my bowl, memories of that summer morning in Mooresville, Indiana came flooding back as I laughed about how my momentary brain fog caused me to blame my mom for breaking my arm. I find it funny how something completely unrelated can make such a deep connection. And after cleaning up the broken pieces of the bowl, I reached out to mom about that day more than 30 years ago. The bowl will soon be forgotten, but these stories will always remain a part of my journey ❤️

Now, I just need to decide about sauerkraut 🤔