Tailbones, Ice, and Hermit Crabs

p. 217

and that was how I found the meaning of life.

                In the January of 2007, a huge ice storm hit the greater of part of Southwest Missouri and other surrounding areas, rendering thousands of people powerless. My immediate family and I stayed with my grandparents down the road because they had a generator, but even then it was a miserable two weeks. Though we never left the property, a lot happened during that storm.

                The ground was covered in a layer of slippery ice, causing my balance to be a little off due to the lack of traction. One morning, I had to walk my grandparents’ dogs, which surely had some dog equivalent disorder to ADHD, and I lost my footing and I’m almost positive that caused me to bruise my tailbone. On top of this soreness, I was almost crushed by a tree branch. I had gone to check on my great grandfather in the trailer on the other side of my grandparents’ property, and on the way back I heard a loud snap, followed by the sound of hundreds of icicles falling to the ground. As I looked up, tiny pieces of bark hit my face and I fell to the ground, pinned down by the branch. To be fair, it was a really big branch. I’m fine now, in case you were at all concerned.

                Even between all this, something worse and far more memorable occurred during this time. On January 14^th of this storm, my parents told my brother and me that they were getting a divorce. It truly felt like the end of the world, and sometimes it still upsets me.

                When the storm finally passed and our power was restored, we returned home to a cold and empty house. And not just because of how I felt, it was really cold in there. When I thought my life couldn’t get any worse, for the first time in two weeks I got to see my room. As soon as I entered, an overwhelming smell hit me and it turned out that my hermit crabs had died.

 I think about how different my life might have been if it weren’t for their divorce (and my hermit crabs dying,) but I think that’s just what gets me through it. I like my life now and how I’ve turned out and I wouldn’t trade that for anything, except maybe some more hermit crabs (just kidding.)