I have a large family. My parents are divorced and both of them have new loves in their lives. I love both additions to my family unconditionally, so adjusting to divorced parents went smoothly for me. My stepdad, Adam, is from New York and that's where most all of his family lives. Every year we plan a week to a 10-day stay in upstate New York, near Lake Owasco, where we hold our family reunion. It's always fun to see my family that I don't see so often.
Back in 2009, before my step dad and mom even got married, we were staying on the lake and decided to go out on a hike. We wanted to see the waterfalls that were nearby our lake house, so we set off. We walked upstream for a while, dancing in the ankle-deep water that was cool because it was shaded by the many trees that surrounded the water.
Eventually, we made it. It wasn't Niagara Falls by any means, but it was a beautiful little creation that seemed to be randomly plopped at that little spot. What was really cool was that if you didn't know it was there you would never know to go looking for it.
My Uncle Jud, our tour guide, suggested we scale the side of the fall and keep on along the stream. It seemed like he had done it before, so we all agreed and started up the side. Uncle Jud first, then my mom, then my sister, then me, and then Adam.
Slowly, we were getting along the side of the waterfall. Maybe a little too slowly. Adam thought if he could just get around us, he could help pull us up when he got to the top. He couldn't go around us on the right though. There was a solid rock wall. So he thought to go inwards, to get around. Solid plan. At that point in the fall, it was smooth and flat with only a small amount of water trickling over the spot. He started his way around us.
What he didn't count on is what grows on rocks over a period of time when water is constantly passing over, algae. The slippery green stuff growing on the rocks were what led to his downfall (pun intended).
He had barely made it past me when all of a sudden I see his feet go sky high and he starts falling down the waterfall! All I could do was scream! Water slides are cool, don't get me wrong, but this waterfall did not have a welcoming pool at the end. Before I knew it he was gone over the edge of the fall and there wasn't anything I could do.
Silence.
Well, other than me screaming.
Minutes seemed to have gone by. All I could think was "I just watched my stepdad die." I mean, a little overdramatic I guess, but holy crap he just slid own a waterfall and fell over what was probably close to the height of a two-story house onto rock.
Then Adam's head popped over the edge just enough to where we could see him over the edge of the waterfall. What a relief. He was standing and he waved, which was good. No life-threatening injuries. The three of us I climbed back down....very slowly.
Once we got down we all hugged and cried and were elated to discover he had no broken bones. We also looked at where he landed. Surrounded by nothing but rock, there was a tiny pool that was just big enough to fit Adam in it.
This pool was about 10-15 feet away from the base of the fall. He was very lucky to have landed where he did. Any change of momentum and he would've for sure broken more than one bone.
He survived a fall down a waterfall with only a broken phone, a large bruise on his backside, and he blew out of his flip-flops. (Yes he wore flip-flops to hike up a stream). It was a miracle.
On the walk back we talked about how scary it was for him and for us. How grateful we were for the miracle that had just happened, acknowledging how much worse it could have been.
He shared what his thoughts were as he was falling down the waterfall. He said, "All I could think about was the fact that I was going to break a leg. The question I asked myself was 'Which leg do I want to land on and break that would make daily life functioning easier? My left or my right?'"
We were extremely lucky that the only thing that ended up broken were his shoes and his phone.
