The other day, my
boyfriend and I were able to get away for the weekend.
We went up to Lake
Placid NY and stayed with my dad and step-mom at the Whiteface Lodge, a vacation
condo my Dad gets every 6 weeks for a week.
It was a beautiful day
out. One of the nicest days we’ve had in a long time. 80 degrees, blue skies
and a nice breeze. It was definitely a dress and heels day. I was excited I had
somewhere “fancy” to wear my heels and the weather certainly complied.I was
excited to get out of the house and have an amazing weekend. I was hoping to
get some sun at the pool, eat some yummy dinner and then go sit out and stare
at the view.
The Whiteface Lodge is
one of my favorite places in the world to be. It smells like a pine tree 24/7
and its dream like when it gets dark. The trees are decked out in lights and
the whole place glows. There are campfires at night and a heated pool. Our room
has a kitchen, two bathrooms, and they give you cookies at your door every
night. Basically it’s “luxury camping.”
We all went out to
dinner. My dad and I got pot roast and it was filling and delicious. The sun
was setting on the lake and from where we were sitting in the restaurant, we
had the perfect picture.
After dinner, we
stopped at the grocery store to get some beer and wine. Between my father’s bad
hip and my high heels, we walked pretty slowly through the store but we got
what we needed. Slowly but surely. Besides being a little uneasy on the floor
mats and a little sluggish on the stairs, it was fine. I knew I looked good, so
walking came second.
When we got back to the
lodge, we dropped my dad and step-mom off at the entrance and drove down the
steep hill to the parking lot. We had to walk back up and we decided to go the
long way. It was beautiful out and now that the sun was down it was more
comfortable and less sweaty.
We walked up the hill
and joked about how full we were and how we’d have some beers and then go to
the hot tub. Jake was walking ahead of me, complaining how I walk slowly in
heels.
“Practice makes
perfect!” I yelled up to him.
The next thing I know,
I was down on the pavement. It happened so fast that I didn’t have time to
react. Jake spun around and ran back to me. I squatted on the ground and looked
down at my knee, which was throbbing. Blood ran down my left leg. My right ankle
was pulsing with pain. My hands were scraped from the pavement and tears
streamed down my face.
Jake rubbed my back and
found the rock I had stepped on, and teetered on, and threw it forcefully into
the woods. The nicest guy I know, angry at an inanimate rock.
I was embarrassed. I
thought I could walk in these shoes and suddenly I had blood on my knee, a huge
scrape and a twisted ankle. I didn’t want to face my dad and step-mom and Jake
just saw me go from sexy to crying and bleeding in about 3 seconds. I was
humiliated. I have a shoe blog and I can’t even walk in my own shoes. I tell
other people to “take a walk in my shoes,” well prepare for a wipe out.
I thought of all the
stories I could tell my dad and step-mom besides simply tripping over a rock.
Oh..you, know..a squirrel just went at it on my knee, it was crazy. Yeah this
lady just pushed me out of the way and I went down, guess she was in a hurry
for the pool. Hmm, don’t think they would’ve bought it.
Jake brought me to the
front desk and I limped behind him. We got band aids and Neosporin. I held his
hand and we shuffled down the long hallway. I sniffled and tears kept escaping
out the corner of my eyes. I wasn’t sure if it was the pain or the
embarrassment, or both.
We got back to the room
and I went straight to the bathroom, ripped off my heels and applied the
ointment and band-aids and refused to come out. Jake texted me from the living
room as he tried to explain the situation to my dad. I didn’t feel like coming
out and hearing them say that I shouldn’t wear shoes like that and that I didn’t
know how to walk in them.
When I finally wiped my
tears and decided to face the music I came out. I was surprised to find that I received
hugs, ice, a glass of wine and a warmed up cookie. I guess I didn’t give them
enough credit.
Jake and I eventually
ventured up to the hot tub. I submerged my scraped up knee and screamed when
the chlorine burned. Jake and I laughed it off and I forgot about my
embarrassment, my bloody knee and my twisted ankle. A hot tub and a few laughs
really help you heal faster. I even eventually went back into that bathroom, picked my heels up and put them back on. If there's anything I've learned from horseback riding it's that you need to get right back on the horse when you fall off. Same goes for shoes.
Now I don’t want to get
too specific, but I’ve been dealing with a lot of personal things since being
home for the summer. I’ve been doubting myself a lot lately. Doubting that I
can handle it. I’m trying to get through but sometimes I fall down. Sometimes I
doubt myself and I lose balance and BOOM I’ve hit the pavement.
I came to terms with
the fact that we all fall down sometimes. Literally and figuratively. And yeah,
it’s embarrassing and yeah, I thought I was done with scraped knees after I
stopped riding my bike five years ago. We can’t all walk perfectly all the time
and sometimes there’s going to be a little factor, a small little rock, a small
little comment, a small little insecurity, and we fall down. Hard. But we get
up and whether we have someone helping us up or we muster up the strength
ourselves, we get there and we can look back and say, “that’s where I fell, but
look at me now.”
Today my knee is purple
and scabbed over, just the in time for the summer where more skin is exposed
than ever. But my knee is healing slowly, and I guess I am too.
