Don’t Cry Over Spilt Milk

Author: Sheri Denkensohn-Trott

As a quadriplegic, daily life includes lots of spilling. Not just liquids, but also food from plates, chips from a bowl, you name it, and I can spill it. I used to get upset but now I laugh about it, and someone helps me refill whatever was spilled. I like to go by the “3 second rule” and eat whatever dropped on the floor, but my husband isn’t so keen on that, so I try to keep the peace and not worry that I am wasting something.

But last week I had a spillage day that really bummed me out. I stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts on the way back from running an errand and got a Dunkachino for my husband, an iced latte for me, and a new item of avocado toast with roasted red peppers for breakfast the next morning. I have a tray on my wheelchair, and everything was settled in a cardboard carrier. I kept my hands on the carrier the entire time so that it wouldn’t move off my tray. Out of nowhere, the wind began to blow, and I felt like I was being pushed backwards. I tried to hold the tray in place along with my book, that holds my phone, credit cards and any other pieces of paper that need attention. I stopped and leaned over to secure everything and was successful.

I made it all the way to the corner across from my condo when all hell broke loose. The wind was blowing from my left, so it took extra effort to keep everything in place. First my book blew open and then I hit a bump and the entire tray of coffee fell off onto the street. A passerby ran over and realized that the coffee was done for, but he rescued my box of avocado toast.

I came in the door and my husband asked, “Where are the drinks?” I shook my head and said, “Everything fell on the street, and I basically wasted over $7.” My toast survived and he put it in the refrigerator. At least I had something for the next day.

In the morning, I asked my attendant to warm up my avocado toast. Now the box was pretty beaten up, but the toast was untouched. She said, “Oh my, I’m so sorry. I saw the battered box in the refrigerator, and it looked like it was open, so I threw it away.” All I could do was laugh. I was not meant to have anything from that tray.

I’ve learned in life that you can’t sweat the small stuff. Letting this windy event that cost me $7 take over my day and make me angry and moody wasn’t worth it. Although, lesson learned. If it is windy, no stops at Dunkin’ Donuts. Otherwise, I know there will be a lot more than spilt milk in my future. But I’m not going to worry about it. And neither should you. Learn to not sweat the small stuff. Move forward, laugh, smile, and think of it as a story you can tell.