Church

At church this morning, an older man seated next to me asked, "Did you hit your head hard?"  I touched my head, confused, and he said, "You hit your head on the bus," and I looked at him more closely...

Yes, he was the man I had sat next to on the bus that morning on the way to church.  I hadn't been watching what I was doing and had hit my head on the top of the doorway as I climbed into the minivan filled with people.  I don't remember hitting it hard, but it still brought a collective gasp from the people on board (yeah, not so graceful...in fact, it would have been embarrassing if I wasn't used to that kind of thing happening all the time :-) I had completely forgotten about it until he said something.  Once the bus started moving, my energy was focused on staying on board.  Seated right next to the open doorway, I had one arm wrapped around one of the children going to church with us and my other arm braced against the window (with my hand clutching my purse) in order to stay on board.  As we moved, I found myself calmly considering questions like:  "I wonder if the ayudante's grip (the helper in the doorway of the moving van) would keep me on board if I lost my balance, or if he would just cushion the fall as we both flew out into the street?"  (My guess was the surprise of the impact would make the second option more likely--I took advantage of the chance at the next stop to adjust myself a little more securely)  And, "I wonder if the driver would stop the bus if my purse flew out into the street?"  (I thought it wise at that point to tighten my grip.)  The two children with us saw it as a great adventure, giggling each time the bus sped up or slowed down. 

It wasn't frightening, but it was distracting enough that I completely forgot about hitting my head until the man next to me brought it up during church this morning.  Once he mentioned it, I realized it did still sting a little bit (and even does a little bit now).  He gave me an understanding smile and said, "We're short here," and then told me he has hit his head getting on the bus before, too. 

The actual church service this morning was wonderful.  I think I might continue going to this one long term.