Unforgettable Misstep in Paris

This is in response (though I am very late to post this, sorry!) to the Daily  Prompt: Misstep

Gare de Lyon Train Station, Paris

It was a very memorable and unfortunate day of September 2013 that I will never forget as for the first time in years I thought my 5yrs old son will be in a terrible state when he took a wrong step on the pavement in front of Gare de Lyon.  It was like a slow motion seeing it on the movie when it happened just  hours before we depart.  I cannot believe it, I thought it’s nothing until I saw his blood gushing on his lower part of the left lip.  Unfortunately, his misstep caused us an instant panic and inconveniences.  He got a very deep cut under his lower lip and it even the doctors get worried that they need a specialist to see him before they can decide what to do and finally after cleaning him up and taking care of his cut we are just lucky to be on time for our 4 O’ clock train ride to Zürich, as you can see from the picture above when I took it was quarter to 1pm so we went to have lunch.  It was an hour before the accident!  Now I wonder why my photo seems gloomy.  Perhaps a sign of what was to come.  A misstep that makes me understand about “humanitarian aid” or sort of.

First, as some of you may know that French is not fond of talking in English, PERIOD.  I do not know the language and just using my brain to understand some words here and there as we go. It is not too bad, just pay attention and look for some landmarks so you won’t get lost as the signage are mostly written in French and of course the good old fashion of hand signals and logical thinking.  Few people are of great help and some just as if they’re blind, can’t be bothered to help or get involved which I understand.  It’s a long story to tell so I won’t bore you with the details.  My hubby told me I have a memory of an elephant which I take as a compliment haha!  🙂

Needless to say, we learned a lot from this experiences.  Fortunately after more than 2 years finally his scar is “almost” gone.  Perhaps someday we will go back again…. will see.

“Use missteps as stepping stones to deeper understanding and greater achievement.”                       by Susan Taylor

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