Dad rode off on his mower as I began my gut-tightening planks. (Thank you, planks.) At rep 5, I heard a muffled clang and noticed the lawn mower engine was not running. Outside the window sat the mower without its rider. I knew instantly what had happened. Bounding out the back door, I found Dad on the ground, one leg and half his pelvis in the six-foot-deep window well, where the welded-rebar cover had collapsed from under him. He could not move, despite body-shaking effort. All he could clutch was bark chips, which had shredded his forearms. This notorious window had previously swallowed my sister Sarah and her three-year-old son Gabe (see my story Angel Gabriel). An extrication procedure quickly became apparent. 1) Grab sweat pants behind hamstring and pull, lifting leg and shifting pelvis out of window well. 2) Grab sweat pants behind hamstrings and haul straight legs into kneeling position. 3) Embrace back and chest, and hoist body to hands and knees. 4) Grip under armpits and pull to a standing position. Thank God it worked. The nearest seat was the lawn mower, which Dad shakily resumed, turning the ignition key. “Do you promise me you are safe to ride?” I yelled above the roar, careful not to further bruise his already battered pride. He nodded and sped off. It occurred to me then: this story had a multitude of bad endings, and only one good ending. Mom’s first fall taught me never to minimize a noise or an impression. As a result of learning that lesson, I was at Dad’s side in seconds—but only because I was home early from work and was exercising in the only part of the house from which I could have heard the well cover collapse. How grateful I felt for circumstances to have aligned in such a way to allow my presence and awareness. I would never debase the occurrence with the words coincidence or luck. Miracle will do nicely, thank you.
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Rabbit Lane 
Oh Roger. How quickly your mom’s experience helped avert a dangerous situation for your dad. A tender mercy indeed.
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Wow! You are right. Lots of tender mercies there. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for your years of steady friendship, Carl.
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Roger …How Blessed your folks are to have u staying with them at this time of their life. This would most likely not have such a happy ending if they were still living there alone ! In your dad’s effort to get righted back up could have very well caused him to slip even farther into the window well and possibly not even found there until too late ! Six feet is a long way down and it isn’t likely that he could have been heard even if he was able to call or holler !
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The alternative endings to the story harrowed me in my sleep!
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My goodness, Roger! It is way too eventful there! Wow! Also, planks and encyclopedias?… You.are.a.stud. 😉 Well done! Whew! My heart rate…
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I am just a normal man, Laura Denise, living a sometimes eventful life and writing about it so that it is not lost but learned from and shared. Thanks.
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🙂 So glad that you do 💛
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So, Roger, what can be done about that well cover? Thank God for mini miracles!
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I’m on it!
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