We went out recently and since there were no handicapped spots available, I parked under a light being sure to leave plenty of space on the passenger side for my husband to get out. I didn’t realize that put the driver’s side next to a ditch. I was so busy watching my husband struggling to get out of the car that I didn’t pay attention for myself. My left foot landed on solid ground; my right foot followed finding nothing but air. I fell backwards about three feet into the ditch. I guess I should be thankful that it was dry hard dirt and not mud. I landed on my hip and left butt-cheek, thank goodness for the natural padding there. My head hit the concrete barrier on the other side.

As I was lying there trying to assess the damage, my husband rushed over to help and lost his balance. He fell into the ditch on top of me scraping both shins on his way down. Thankfully a young man saw what happened and came over to help us get out. We were pretty shaken up, but no major injuries.

Looking at this afterwards, a couple of things come to mind. If I had taken a moment to look around, I would have seen the drop and could have avoided it. I tend to overcompensate on safety for my husband, I need to be more mindful of it myself. The second thing that comes to mind is that I have been taught what to do if my husband falls, we have never talked about what he should do if I fall, namely leave me alone to get up by myself. I know he was trying to help and yet it made the situation worse. Now that the bruises are healing and we can look back and laugh, we agree that the new rule is “Don’t follow me into a ditch.”