Thursday, September 20, 2012

Emergency Call

As I sit in my hotel room in New York tonight, the mirror above the desk where my computer is perched is such that all I can see of myself is the thinning white hair on the top of my head.

I've just returned from a lovely dinner with friends at a Korean restaurant near here; a dinner interrupted by disturbing news.

A parent at my son's soccer game today, which was one of the very few I have ever missed during his long career, alerted me that he had been hurt, perhaps badly, and could I get him his Mom's phone number.

During a series of calls and texts back and forth, I established that he had collided with another player head on head, that they had both collapsed and were bleeding from their heads.

Onlookers were sufficiently alarmed that they wanted to cal an ambulance, but a sports trainer on hand taped the boys up and said they could wait for their parents to arrive before going to the hospital.

As I write these words, Aidan is being sewed up in the ER. He has a deep gash on his forehead that requires several stitches. They are also checking him for concussion symptoms.

Over the years I've attended almost every one of his games. Why did this have to happen tonight? Not that being there would have helped anything, of course. If I'd witnessed the accident, I probably would be even more worried than I am, as I sit here alone, awaiting word from way across this very large continent...

-30-

2 comments:

Just a hobby for now said...

I hope your son is okay, David. Keep writing. I enjoy your blog immensely. Certainly for me my kids dominate (in mostly a good way) my day-to-day reality. I feel more and more removed from stories from the world's of tech, business, politics, etc., or perhaps it's just an intolerance for such blatant spinning everywhere you look. Post-Stanford my "media" diet is skewing heavily toward poetry, short stories/novels, and a small handful of real-deal bloggers like you. Anyway, your writing makes a difference in my life and I hope you keep sharing.
Best wishes,
Geoff Koch
Portland, Ore.

David Weir said...

Thanks, Geoff! It is nice to hear from you and so kind of you to comment -- I really appreciate it. My son has eight stitches and cannot play soccer for a week or so but he seems fine.