Have you ever broken a bone?

Not officially…

My wife and I played co-ed softball together for a few years. We had a lot of fun and made some good friends during that time. It was also after a really rough patch in our marriage, and while we didn’t always get along off the field, it was great to work together as part of a team.

I can’t say we were that great at it, but we did have a lot of fun.

During those years, a couple of things happened. I played outfield a lot. In fact, I was out in left field, so I didn’t get a lot of defensive action. Probably with good reason. One time, I caught a fly ball, but my glove was not centered and it landed mostly on my thumb, rather than in the soft meshy part of the glove. It hurt a lot, but I kept playing and never really paid it any more attention. My hand ached for several months after. Years later, I noticed that my thumb on my catching hand was no longer straight, like my other one. So, apparently I did break it. I just didn’t realize it at the time.

During another game, someone from the other team hit a ball in my direction. It was a low lob, and took a bounce before I could get to it. Or rather, before it got to me. I was caught off guard, but I stopped the ball – with my chest. Not the way I’d recommend! It hit me pretty hard, not quite squarely, just at my collar bone. This time I knew something wasn’t right – my collar bone felt a little weird. There was a small divet where the ball had hit me. But again, I kept playing! My chest hurt for quite some time after that. And to this day, I can feel a malformation in that collar bone. I don’t think it totally broke through – more like “chipped”. But I still think it counts.

Also, did you know that divet and divot are not synonymous? The spell checker on my phone doesn’t even think divet is a word, but it is!