Today my foot slipped and slid on a rainslick drain grate in the sidewalk. I felt my balance start to fail and the way gravity shifted to pull me down—only for my other foot to step in place and ground me once again. There was the brief lurching and sense of impending doom the way one gets on a roller-coaster for a split-second before all was right again. The beating of my heart sat in my ears before climbing back down. A moment of pure panic completely resolved by habit. l replay it in my mind as a baby stumbling; learning to walk. I imagine how excited I must have been. What is a little victory for me now was so big to her then.
