Only GOD can step out into space (and get away with it).

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Christmas night- 6:30 PM----A night which will live in infamy; well, at least to me it will. My wife and I were doing some last minute Santa Claus deliveries to our son. He had recently married and moved into his new wife's home, so we had only been there once before. Upon entering his home we noticed right away that my son (the only one home at the time) had not yet turned on all his lights, so the room was rather dimly lit. After a few minutes of our best Christmas greetings which included a gift, we prepared to leave. As I made my way toward the door I noticed the taxidermy of a deer he had shot about 30 years ago. We were hunting together at the time so it held a lot of good memories to both of us. With my attention focused on the trophy located high on the wall, I made my way toward it for a closer look (recalling that wonderful time of bonding as father and son). In my peripheral vision I noticed the wall to my right; and at the bottom of the wall was a hardwood floor, but only an 8 inch portion of the floor was showing. The rest of the floor was covered by what seemed like a large black rug. After satisfying myself that my path was free of any obstruction I took a step with my left foot toward my target. That's when I found out I couldn't fly (or even hover for that matter). I found myself falling through complete darkness with my left arm extended above my head and the left side of my body leading the way. I must have looked like a body surfer, surfing the stairs on my side. I never saw the twelve step stairwell to the basement until my son turned on the light after I finally came to rest at the bottom. The position of my body during what seemed like an endless fall was probably the only way I could have fallen without being seriously damaged or even killed. You see, my head, instead of making contact with the stair-steps or the concrete floor, made contact with my left shoulder and arm. This probably saved my life. I feel that if I had seen my surroundings while I was falling I probably would have been much more seriously hurt than I was. I, most likely, would have tried to change my flight by grabbing onto something nearby, thereby breaking an arm or worse. I didn't tumble down the stairs. I made contact all at once on my left side and finished the fall in a sideways slide to the bottom. To the absolute amazement of my wife and son, I got up from that fall with everything intact, climbed the stairs in an upright position, got in my car and actually drove home. Of course I was rather sore for a few days but soon recovered from all but the life-saving arm injury. The final result was a torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder which is being treated even now (that is a story in itself). BTW. The 8 inch portion of the floor I mentioned was actually like an access catwalk for cleaning a nearby window and it gave the illusion that there was more floor under what, I thought, was a black rug. Have you ever taken a serious fall? Share it with us. Any complications? Are you still feeling the effects of the fall? Do you feel it was a miracle you are still alive?