Today is Broken Ankle Day.

It’s strange, how one single step could have changed not just my life permanently, but also the lives of others so drastically.

For me, there is the obvious change–I live with regular aches and pains associated with the hardware that remains screwed into my bones.

But it was the other, less obvious changes, that had an even greater impact.

After I returned home from the hospital, it was glaringly obvious that Michael couldn’t take care of me and help Grandmom with her day-to-day things. So on the 16th, she packed some bags and my parents drove her to my aunt’s house, where we figured she’d stay until I was (literally) back on my feet.

Then Grandmom fell and broke her femur, and things changed yet again.

She spent months in rehab, and we were suddenly traveling to the DC area every three to four weeks. We eventually realized that Grandmom wouldn’t be coming back to live with us, and that meant changes for my aunt and uncle, as they arranged their home and lives for her.

I never thought, that Friday evening, as a grabbed my camera and went out to take some pictures of flowers, that my life would change so drastically with a single step.

And that’s what I try to remember today. Not the pain, not missing Grandmom (well, ok, there is that), but the realization that things can change in an instant. We cannot fully control our lives, and we can never take back things once they have happened.

We can only accept them–the good and the bad–and move on, making the best of what we have.

After all, if Grandmom hadn’t been in VA, I’d never have taken my two favorite pictures of her, and my memories of those days.

So, on Broken Ankle Day, I have no regrets, only acceptance.

I love you and miss you Grandmom.