Zombie Finger

I recently almost lost my left index finger in a kitchen accident. It was a horrible injury. Five stitches and weeks of having to keep it protected from being touched only added to the trauma. It was a scary event for myself as well as the girls.

In the weeks after the incident, Havana started calling me zombie finger and she started to draw pictures of my hand. I was relieved that she was able to independently use drawing to process the distress she was experiencing. We would talk about her feelings after each drawing and sometimes we would laugh when she called me zombie finger.

Amara, being older and more articulate was able to talk more easily about the accident. Amara was present during the actual


event and both girls where there when I went to the ER. Amara initially processed things by taking photos of the doctor stitching me up. Later on, my finger grossed her out and she would continually tell me "Don't touch me with your zombie finger."

My injury was just a few weeks old when we went to Florida. One evening, after dinner on Captiva  Island, we went into a gift shop. There we saw these monster finger puppets. The girls got a kick of it when this silly mama put one on my zombie finger. Not surprisingly, the girls and I both thought I just had to buy it. So Zombie Man came with us. Now I take it out every now and again and act all silly, speaking in a zombie voice as I tease the girls.

My injury wasn't always a laughing matter but I am                                                                                                                               glad we can get a kick                                                                                                                                 out of it now.

One of Havana's drawings of my finger. This one she folded and put in the mailbox and then told me that I had mail!