My sisters are trying to kill me

Sometimes, I wonder if my sisters are trying to kill me.

I sprained my ankle a few weeks ago (stepping off a porch; couldn't even have been something awesome) and I've been swinging around on crutches since then. I've sprained my ankles before, so I at least know how to use them. But that doesn't save me from hopping through the house.

My sisters are usually in bed before I am, and of course we share a room. That means when I head to bed, it's dark. Which wouldn't be so bad, if clothes didn't jump out from the corners to try and strangle the crutches and dump me on the floor. Again. Oh, or the toys that the youngest sibling decides to leave out because she's not done with them (and then stay there for a week without being touched).

So I hop carefully through the minefield of the bedroom, hoping to reach my bed alive. I have a lamp on the dresser right next to it, and I kinda need it on so I can see what I'm doing. But I go to turn it on and...nothing. It's somehow been unplugged. The little gremlins have attacked the plugin sometime during the day. Unfortunately, I'm not able to bend over, or get on my hands and knees to plug it back in, since that would be akin to suicide on that floor.

So I get to climb into bed in the dark, and hope that leaning the crutches against the dresser won't be a mistake.

Climbing into bed is also like a minefield. Because someone has left their schoolbooks there. Which, once I've dumped onto the floor, results in me finding a pencil in the general area of the pillow. And a gameboy of some sort (there are apparently different models, which I always get wrong) blinking at me where someone left it on.

Crutches for three weeks is no picnic. It's more like a roller coaster of death, as I figured out the first day I went back to work and promptly fell out of the roller chair they brought out for me so I could get around.

Fun, fun, fun, right?

Sometimes. Being able to swing along faster than some people can walk is, occasionally, fun. Crutches are also good for doing things like turning lights off and on without having to vacate the chair you're sitting in.

But it also presents a number of difficulties.

One, carrying things. Especially cups full of water. Want a cold bath? That can be arranged. Another would be showering. If you need crutches, and can't put weight on your foot, getting into the shower is always an experience. It is also hard to do normal things like grocery shopping and cooking.

If I lived by myself, I'd have to find a way to do it all. I also probably would have avoided medications like the plague, despite the fact that my ankle was swollen to twice it's normal size. I also probably would have started trying to walk the first or second day afterward, which probably would have been counterproductive in my situation.

But, despite the fact that I've almost toppled, crutches and all, in the mess of my bedroom - I haven't had as many challenges.

Why?

Well, because my family stepped it up to help me. Yeah, I've gotten about fifty different nicknames, mostly varying versions of crip, cripple, or gimpy. But I haven't had to cook on crutches often. I haven't even had to try and figure how in the world I'm going to carry my clothes into the bathroom to shower. There's always a pair of willing hands to help me out.

Being the stubborn and independent person I am (or like to believe myself to be) I got frustrated very quickly with not being able to do anything. I wanted to cook, clean, do my own laundry, and, for goodness sake, walk to the bathroom without people freaking out because I smacked a crutch on the wall and they thought I'd lost my balance. I wanted to be able to get in and out of the car as fast as everyone else, and not have to try and wedge crutches into the seat with me.

It's been a trial. As I'm writing this, there are crutches nearby and a brace on my ankle.

It's been a challenge. I learned how to adjust my balance for carrying a heavy bag in one hand while on crutches. I learned how to maneuver through tight spaces (sideways) and how not to roll a roller chair.

But the most important thing I learned?

The people who drive you the craziest are sometimes the biggest help when you need it. Yes, the room is a disaster, and I've almost fallen several times. But you know why? Because I forgot to ask my sister to clear a path for me. I can't count the times she's done that for me so I wouldn't fall and hurt myself again.

My brother carries my things to and from the car before and after work. When he's not driving me insane by whistling the exact same tune over and over. My youngest sister, Her Royal Hyperness herself, helped me fix my lunches for work, spending ten minutes on the floor searching for the right size container. My dad gently wrapped my ankle in our ice pack - before sitting down to eat his lunch. My mom talked me into taking pain medications when I didn't want to, so it would bring down the swelling. All of them retrieved things for me when I needed them.

And they're not the only ones.

The manager at work made sure all the lights were on before I walked through the store, so I wouldn't trip over something I couldn't see. He also drove me to a relative's house so I wouldn't be walking, on crutches, in the dark.

When I sprained my ankle, I was in another state. My boyfriend and his family had me at Urgent Care within the hour for x-rays.

There are countless others, some that I don't know and will never see again, that worked to make things easier for me. The flight attendants on the way home, the people who hold the door for me, the people who tell me not to get up, they can do it themselves.

A lot of my blog posts are brought into existence because of a complaint I have. Because of something I saw that I didn't like, or that bothered me.

But sometimes, we have to flip the coin over and look at the other side of it. Sometimes we need motivation for speaking up that doesn't have its heart and core founded in the negative.

My family drives me crazy. Random strangers annoy and anger me sometimes.

But my family also looks after me better than anyone else in the world. And random strangers have also done things that have made my day better, easier, simpler, more enjoyable.

So, yes. Complain. By all means. But don't forget to flip the coin over. ;)