A Flair for the Dramatic

I am not going to deny it - I have a slight tendency to be somewhat dramatic and over exaggerate. I blame my father.  My dad is a pro when it comes to story-telling. He would always tell his "war stories" while I was growing up. And y'all, these stories are famous in my family. They include recollections of life in an all boys Catholic school, to growing up in Philly, to serving in the Air Force during Vietnam. My aunts, uncles, and cousins know all the stories by heart. And, what is funny about them, is that the story slightly changes every time he tells it.

Take the killer bee story, for example. It's a hot afternoon in Brazil, where my father is stationed during the war. All of his comrades are sitting around a hotel pool, enjoying their day off. Nearby, a group of young, mischievous boys find a bee hive and begin to hit it with sticks. Suddenly, a huge swarm emerges from said bee hive and begins to fly over to the pool area. World War III ensues. Everyone is running around, trying to escape from the attack. My father runs over to the pool, but accidentally stubs his toe on the edge. He falls in, bees flying into the water after him like bullets from a gun. Sometimes during the story he claims to have been stung ten times. Other times its only twice. He calls it his "Purple Heart" story, since he nearly lost his life during the event. And had a purple toe for a few days.

I tell you all this because I had a traumatic experience a few nights ago. Jarrod claims I am over-reacting, but I beg to differ. Obviously he just is unaware of the severity of the situation.

You see, I almost chopped my finger off while cooking. No joke. I was chopping spinach when it happened. I began to bleed and the moment I saw the blood I became light-headed and nauseous. While Jarrod ran upstairs to grab me a band-aid, I laid on the floor, tears streaming down my face, feeling as though the pain would never end. I was certain I was either going to bleed to death or lose my finger altogether. There would be no way to salvage it.

Seriously...look at how bad that wound is!

Life threatening, I tell you.