The trip had been longer than we had expected. Sarwar and Catherine had done all the driving. I was just along for the ride to visit my other daughter Susanna and her husband, Dick. We had arrived the previous day and had rested overnight. Yet the little pain in my lower back nagged at me, as it had for the last few days. It was one of those devilish little gremlins that sneak up on a body when it is least expected; one that keeps the victim uncomfortable no matter what position he assumes.

It was a cool Florida day with its reputed sunshine on full display. I was up at a respectable hour, dressed and ready for the day’s activities. Seeing the sunny day, despite the coolness, I thought it would be pleasant to sit in the sunshine for a few minutes before breakfast. I made my way to the sunny side of the pool just outside the house, and sat in the sun for a while. In the fullness of time I got up to go back into the house. I never noticed that the place where I was walking was raised above the level of the rest of the poolside. The bright sun on the white surface made the difference in elevation nearly imperceptible from my viewpoint. On my way back inside I was oblivious to the four-inch step-down under my feet.

I pitched forward. Knowing I was falling, I extended my arms to break the fall. Only my right hand struck solid matter. My left hand was over the pool. Resistance to momentum on only my right side caused me to roll toward the edge of the pool. I could see the water rapidly approaching my face as I bounced into the water that felt warm on a cool day.

My soaked clothes dragged me down as I struggled to find the edge of the pool’s deep end. I managed to right myself and find the edge and pull my head above water and look for the way out. By the time I was halfway out Catherine and Sarwar came running out of the house asking what had happened.

“It looked like a tsunami of an earthquake had happened,” said Sarwar, ”I heard a splash, then this big wave came rolling to the end of the pool.” Nobody saw me fall in, the place not visible from inside the house.

“Let us help you out,” said Catherine, but by that time I had found the step out and had sat down on the edge of the pool with my feet still in the water.

“Why are you soaking your feet with your shoes on” asked Susanna who had just pulled away from fixing breakfast. She joined the others in hilarious laughter at what must have reminded them of a drowned rat.

“You looked so funny in the pool with your clothes on,” Catherine said, still snickering with the others.

“I think I broke my shoulder, I said. This may have slowed the laughter, but only slightly.
With much difficulty and a lot of help I got out of my wet clothes, which clung to my body as if they were glued in place. It was just as much a chore to get into dry clothes because the pain in the shoulder made my left arm worse than useless. After the struggle I went to breakfast with the gang. The gaiety continued throughout the meal as my companions replayed in their imaginations my dive into the pool, which they had not actually seen.

After breakfast Sarwar and Catherine went to the trade show as scheduled. Susanna took me to a clinic to see about my injury. The X-rays revealed a fractured humerus. Later when the gang reconvened, the topic of conversation was, of course, the event at the pool. Everyone had his own mental vision of the plight of the victim in the water. Despite my broken humerus the scene was humorous, judging from the chuckles that persisted.

My dip in the pool was not all bad. I am right handed. I provided entertainment for the whole day and I never noticed my back pain again.