A Story for the Ages in our family

Yesterday was Marcus' move-in date, and the whole family was set to see him settled into his dorm room, maybe meet some of his dorm-mates.   The car was packed, and he was excited and nervous.  

Since it was also the day Jackson was to return to campus, he needed to move the car he's been working on for a few years, his red classic BMW.  And when he turned the ignition, after replacing all kinds of parts and re-building the entire engine, it was a GO!  The engine started right up! 

Everyone was thrilled--even Day who was holding back tears as her Empty Nest was looming.

But first, they needed to move a few heavy elongated pots, all filled with soil and flowers.  Jackson is a weight lifter--when he's not rebuilding cars--and he moved the first two.  He estimates that each pot weighs 400 pounds.

For the third one, he had to take a break and he said something to the effect of "They are top heavy.  I'll get them."

Because of the time crunch and knowing that the roads to Richmond would be packed with college students and their families. Tom decided to help a bit.  I can't picture this step.  Was Jackson back to help him?  Or was he just testing the weight?

Then it happened, the story for our family lore for generations:

The pot fell on Tom's leg.  He couldn't move.  My heretofore non-athletic daughter, and Tom's superwoman, Day, went into crisis mode.  She remembered my telling her a story of a mother lifting a car to free her child.  And without even thinking about it,  she lifted the pot off Tom's leg! 

"Move your foot out!" she shouted, and he did, just in the nick of time.

And then she did what she does so well: she organized the rest of the day.  She told Jackson to take Tom to the ER that would be quickest to get in and out of.  She gave everybody jobs.  When Day gets an idea, the wheels start moving!

At the ER, while Day and Marcus were finishing packing the other car, Tom's x-rays revealed that he had broken his 5th metatarsal bone, the long bone on the outside edge of the foot.  The doctor said he could still make it to Richmond if he didn't lift anything or attempt to drive.

In two weeks, Tom has a business trip to Portugal; two weeks later, Jakarta.  He will see a foot specialist this week and it's likely he'll be cleared to travel, probably with a cast and a cane.  

Both boys are settled back into their different spaces, Marcus in a dorm, Jackson in a house.  Day and Tom are spending their first day in their "way too quiet" house together.