Blood Brothers

This time of year has always been busy for me.  It used to be the wrap-up of a long year of teaching, now it's the big push for fund-raising in my non-profit work.  This week alone I have three meetings in three days (all focused on a charity golf tournament which I am helping to head), tennis lessons for Ben, my summer softball league is kicking off with our first game, I am preparing for a large catering job through my business, and we are planning for Grandma and Grandpa to come visit for a week.

Last night I had my first of the three meetings so after dinner Brian and the boys walked me over to TCF where I was meeting the rest of the board to take care of business.  I kissed the boys goodnight as I wouldn't be home in time to tuck them in and went on my way.  Their plan was to check the mail then take an evening walk before going home for bedtime.

When my meeting wrapped up I headed home and was careful not to make any unneccessary noise and disturb the boys.  After I closed the front door I noticed that Brian had a rather sheepish look on his face.  I asked him how everything went with bedtime.  He motioned toward a pile of dirty clothes on the floor and I saw it....Ben's t-shirt covered in blood.  I gasped and asked what had happened.  Brian assured me that everyone was okay but it was Sam not Ben who was hurt. 

The basic story is that Brian and the boys took their walk in the quiet neighborhoods near us and were crossing the street to the much-traveled path on Lakeshore Blvd. when Sam apparently tripped.  He hit his nose squarely on the ground and when he stood up he was crying and the blood began to flow.  There was so much blood that Brian's hand was filling with blood as he tried to pinch off Sam's nose to slow the flow.  Brian said he literally had handfuls of blood that he was flinging on the ground.  There was so much blood that Brian couldn't tell where it was all coming from, just Sam's nose or his mouth too.  Brian frantically looked around for anything to use to sop up the blood and calmly told Ben that he needed his shirt.  Ben obediently took off his outer sweatshirt and offered it to Brian asking, "This, Dad?"  Brian replied, "No, your t-shirt," which Ben removed and handed to Brian who then put it over Sam's nose and mouth.  Ben put his sweatshirt back on and had to hold it closed around his naked belly as the zipper was broken.  Brian said they were quite a scene walking home....Ben clutching his sweatshirt around his body, Brian carrying Sam who had a bloody shirt over his face.

Brian said everyone actually stayed very calm.  Sam didn't cry for long, Ben didn't get upset, and they were all able to get home and get Sam put back together.  The one thing that I find irksome is that Brian said as many as four people passed them on the walk home and none inquired into the bloody scene.  Ben wasn't even upset when Brian told him his shirt, "May not make it."

Once Brian and the boys were home Brian could see that in addition to the bloody nose Sam also has a scrape below his nose and had a cut inside his lip, presumably from his teeth. When I checked on him later on I could see the scrape and could see that his top lip was swollen. When he woke up this morning he and Ben both told me the whole story and Sam assured me that he was okay.

The aftermath.

Sam no worse for wear.