The "Fall" I still recall, 8 1/2 years later.

Myles, in 2005, close to the time
the fall happened

It was one of those usual, "unusual" Kansas weather days. A bit of warm weather in the middle of the dead of winter.  Of course, I couldn't wait to open up the house, and let the warm, sweet air in, hoping to release the stagnancy from the central heating running for several months straight.
My oldest son, Myles, was about 2 at the time.  Old enough to be busy, busy enough to get into trouble.  Old enough for independent play, but still needing supervision.

I had been on the phone with my Mom.  I don't even remember what we were talking about, but I know that it was something fairly intense or engaging as I had been walking around the living room while talking with her. Myles had just started being able to climb the furniture, and being a boy, was really exploring this.  I saw him get on the sofa that was up against our outside living room wall.  On that wall was a large row of windows:  One large picture window with smaller side windows that slid open to the side.  There are screens on the windows, but I never realized that they simply snapped into place, and assumed they were like the screens on the windows we had on our home growing up that had storm windows on them and were almost impossible to remove.

Myles on his 9th birthday

Now, our house was also what is often called a "view out", meaning that our basement was dug half underground which allowed the basement windows to be larger and situated level to the back yard.  It also meant that our main floor was actually about two stories off the ground on the back side of the house. So main floor windows are actually about 7 feet off the ground, you know what I mean if you have a newer home around here. Now, Myles had gotten onto the sofa, while I was on the phone, that was against those windows.  I don't remember anything after this point but hearing a snap,  and looked to see that Myles was no where to be found.  But the screen was now missing from the open window.  I instantly screamed out, threw the phone down, realizing in horror what had just happened, expecting to see that my baby was badly hurt or worse, dead, outside that window.  I literally think I jumped down a flight of stairs off our deck to get to him. By the time I had reached him he had begun to cry,  thank God!!  Myles had landed, on that screen on top of a few small boxwood bushes that were below.  I think the combination of the screen and the bushes, broke his fall, keeping this from having a tragic ending. The screen may have also acted as a sort of shield slowing him down a bit, protecting him from the sharp branches of the boxwood, as those are a woody sort of plant.  Screen or not, though, I can't help but only give credit to the Lord that the only harm to him was the wind knocked out of him.

Today is another one of those unusual warm days, and I am always reminded of how blessed we are when I go around opening up the windows to our home. Seeing him today, at age 9, I can't imagine not having him all this time. He is such a sweet, happy-hearted little boy, and God has gifted him with this amazing ability to pray. I am so excited to see what God has planned for my sweet little man.  I thank God everyday for each of my children and pray endlessly for their protection and safety.  I also make sure I sneak a little prayer in for myself that I could be a little wiser to these sorts of scenarios before they happen next time.

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Unfortunately it wasn't until after this had happened to me that I began to hear about the dangers of falls to young children in the home.  In 2011, a study was released finding that over 5,000 children per year (via NBCnews.com) have fallen from windows, two-thirds of them toddlers. Injuries can be minor to deadly.  The National Safety Council (NSC) recommends keeping furniture away from windows, (yeah got that one), installing window guards, and keep young children from playing near windows and patio doors.  Five inches is all that is needed for a small child to slip through.  You can get more tips on preventing falls and the safety precautions you should take from the Mayo clinic, here.  Multicare.org has some great tips to making your windows safer and more about window guards, here.   If you really want to make sure you're covered, the NSC has a "Window Safety Checklist" pdf you can download and print to make sure you have all your bases, er windows, covered.  I felt compelled to bring you this information today, not because the weather is nice and your windows are probably open, but so that this scary experience would keep you from going through your own.  I know others, have not been so lucky.