Hey, did I mention I broke my toe on the snorkeling trip? I stubbed it on the boat on a slope in the deck I hadn’t seen, and it hurt like mad. But, I figured, “Don’t be such a weenie. You’re snorkeling in Hawaii, for God’s sake! It’s a stubbed toe. Suck it up.”. Well, when I took off my flippers, it was clear it wasn’t a stubbed toe. It was already swelling and turning an odd shade of purple.

Now, at this point, I should interject that my father believed all illnesses were in the mind, so my sister and I were raised as classic “walk it off” children. Which is just what I did–I walked it off … over to the ship’s stairs and back in for more snorkeling, across lava rocks, over black sand beaches, up to sleeping sea turtles, into lava tunnels, up to a volcano look out, and through four airports. (BTW, I also walked off sea sickness on the bumpy way to the bay–it’s nature’s cure-all!)

It’s still really ugly–a weird palette of purple and red-black, but let’s be honest, a broken toe is an annoyance; a lost vacation day in paradise is a tragedy. Thank you, dad, for raising two tough girls 🙂