We were a family of five, the regulation Mother and Father, 2 daughters and 1 son.
We lived inland, far from the sea, and we were finally going to Port Edward on holiday.
It took us five hours to drive there, and on the way there were tantalizing glimpses of the sea
with the waves rolling and shining in the sun.
We went to stay with family, and they were just as glad to see us. The children asked to go to the beach, so we took them there for their first swim of the holiday. There was a lot of running, splashing and screaming, just to relieve the long sit-in in the back seat of the car.
We were doing the dishes after supper when my eldest daughter knocked over a coldrink
bottle, which exploded. A piece of the bottle cut a 6cm gash on her thigh. She sat on the floor, there was lots of blood and tears, and we needed to go to the doctor. First we had the hunt for the car keys, then my husband and brother in law took her to the doctor. My brother-in-law being a farmer took it in his stride and taped up the gash with tape.
When they finally came back she had a dressing covering the stitches on her leg. She looked so tired and in pain, so we put her to bed. The doctor had given her an antibiotic injection.
So, the next morning we went down to the beach again, but she couldn't swim, she had shorts on and could wade in the sea, but that was all. She sat on a rock and watched her siblings swim and run and jump and play from her rock. We were in Port Edward for four days and she impressed me no end.
Image - Pixabay
Not a tear, not a nasty remark, perfect grace was how she handled it outwardly.
And she was eleven years old.
Three days after we got home from our holiday it was time to have the stitches out, so we went down to the doctor. I tried to tell him what happened, but he waved me to silence and got my daughter to tell him what happened. I think that was to make sure that it wasn't negligence that had caused the injury.
Twenty years later I still remember that holiday so clearly and would like to compliment my daughters' handling of the situation.