And Within 60 Minutes of Declaring, "I'm On Sabbatical; Bring On the Freedom" I Catch a Football The Wrong Way. Ouch.

And it is quickly determined that the finger is all sorts of fractured. Sunlight. Tree. A great pass by the one and only, Chitunga Mpepo, and I misjudge his throw and "Wola!" - a broken finger.

I knew it as soon as the ball hit. I heard it crack and yelled, "This isn't good." I then ran in the house to lay on the couch before the reality hit. I knew I'd get dizzy. I did well for a while, but Caitlyn, Dave's sister, put it on ice and the pain got so bad I thought I was going to puke. Of course, I didn't puke because I had to poop, which I did, but then I started sweating as everyone made plans as to who would take me to emergency care.

Casey won, with Tunga and Nikki (perpetual texters) as the wing man and woman. Dave made Casey bring me a professional vomit bag with me in the car, just in case. I did great, however, even with the Physician Assistant (pregnant with her 4th child) decided to put me in a choke hold to pull the finger back in place. I'm not sure if it was her aggression, frustration, or the faces she was making but she got me laughing in hysterics because it hurt so bad. She was flinging me around the room trying to dislodge the phalange before Casey yelled out, "Oh, my gosh. I think I'm going to faint. Bryan's laughing and screaming and the faces you are making while tugging at his hand are making me really nervous." That's when the physicians decided they should numb my hand and have me lay down on a bed. This, of course, got Casey and I laughing even more. We were playing Ring Around the Rosie and now they wanted to amputate.

The more we replayed the scenario of my pain, the more Casey admitted, "Bryan, you're doing really really well. You are handing this better that I thought. It's not like you." Meanwhile the doctor is saying, "I've never had a finger so stubborn. It's worse than putting a shoulder back in place." Pull. Pull. Stretch. Pull. Ugh. She returned with a needle, but went in for one more grab and pull and we heard the cracking before she said, "Good, I knew it was crunchy in there and it's back in place and now we can do X-rays."

People say, "Oh, you'll know when you break something."

Yes, this time I knew.

I really really knew.

Then, while waiting for X-rays Casey started texting the story to everyone and we laughed harder and harder knowing our story would inevitably be much better after we rehearsed it a few times. (Meanwhile, Tunga and Nikki are on their phones in the lobby and my cousin Mark says, "Snapchat them and tell them you're dying. This generation responds to that").

The pinky is fractured and I need to see an orthopedic surgeon about possible tendon damage. That will wait. I begin my sabbatical in a splint and with good meds for a week.

Abu says, "Football 1, Bryan 0".

And the good news: I'm typing fine and Casey's dog, Dixie, got along marvelously with our dog, Glamus. So what if Crandall ruined Barnwell night and our only time to bond this week? Ah, this was the best way to bond. All these years of dealing with Casey's medical issues, it was about time she was there to serve me!