Oh My. How is it that the craziest things can happen at the worst possible time? Growing up, it would involve plumbing issues during a holiday event. During harvest, a broken sprocket on the raisin-shaking equipment. A burst pipe on the spray rig when the mites were sucking our vines dry. Things just happen when you least expect them.
T and K came to visit on Friday. This is on the top of the list of the BEST POSSIBLE THINGS IN MY WORLD. They always come in with smiles and hugs, and then, we start talking just where we left off as if we live next door and visit every day. Being VST’s twins, they share and reflect all the very best parts of him. I am so blessed that they love me enough to come for visits. I’m relieved when they seem to approve of how things look around Winterpast.
In the afternoon, T went into Mr. Fix-It Mode and was helping with many little jobs around the house. The HVAC filter got changed. Security cameras were installed. And then, there was the issue of the Jeep air filter. I had just bought a replacement, and wasn’t sure where or how to install it. We were in the garage, doing this and that when it happened.
I’d been on one side of the Jeep, while he was at the workbench. Going to find something we were looking for, I miscalculated my route and ran into the bumper of the Jeep. No just a small collision. I was moving at a pretty good clip. Upon impact, there was a audible thud, and then, pain. LOTS. OF. PAIN.
Now. You must envision just WHO these two are. Sports minded, body conscious, nimble 45 year old people who can dodge incoming balls of any kind. They can jump and make baskets. Run without tripping on their feet. Very agile. Even K, with her bionic parts does not run into objects of any kind, let alone something as big and imposing as a parked Jeep.
Trying not to do anything more stupid, I immediately went to get my ice pack, ready and waiting for instances like this. On the couch, I just kept thinking, “Why today? Why today? Why today?” I do have one of VST’s canes left. I considered whether or not I would need it, further pushing me down the road to old.
T and K were kind. They were supportive. But, really? I wouldn’t blame them for considering this another step on the road to “THE HOME”. Days later, the leg is not working as the other. The bruised thigh bone is “talkin’ to me”, as VST would say about his aches and pains. A reminder that I’m not an observant walker, let alone a sports person.
The day continued with homemade Clam Chowder for dinner. By 8:30, we were all dragging, and decided to turn it. It was then the second disaster of the day occurred. Living alone, I ordered a “FALL AND CALL” system. If I FALL, it automatically CALLS the world with the push of a button. There are shower, pendent, and watch buttons. Buttons on the mother-ship unit that sits in the kitchen. Plenty of buttons in case one has a need to push them. Living alone, its a good device to have.
Never have I set the unit off accidentally. Never. In fact, having owned the unit for 1.5 years now, I don’t often even look at the pendent that hangs on my light. Never have I bumped the shower button. Racing around the kitchen, I haven’t accidentally hit the mother-ship. No. Not something that happens around here, until Friday night.
I was getting into bed, ready to fall asleep. The covers were just so. Pillows fluffed. Oliver was snoring in his kennel. I reached for the light. Somehow, some way, I hit the pendent just right. All of a sudden, the tiniest little ding began.
A tinkling little ding,ding,ding,ding……..
Then, I hear it.
FALL DETECTED. AMBULANCE ON THE WAY. FALL DETECTED. AMBULANCE ON THE WAY. WARNING. WARNING. WARNING………….. It wouldn’t stop.
Now, I’d just had the leg incident. I was in my bedroom with the door closed. I needed to get my pajamas on before I could race to the kitchen to figure out how to stop the message.
T, just settling into a nights sleep, heard me calling for him to help turn off the machine. He thought I’d fallen in the bathroom. He started yelling for K, who was happily settling down in the guest room. I yelled to Tim, to try to stop the ambulance from showing up. Tim was not coming in the bedroom, worried that I was in some state of dispair and undress that he didn’t want to see. In the meantime the device had already left a message for CC, over in California that something was amiss.
Finally decent, I raced to the unit to find there is NO cancel button.
FALL DETECTED. AMBULANCE ON THE WAY. FALL DETECTED. AMBULANCE ON THE WAY. WARNING. WARNING. WARNING…. It kept on for what seemed an eternity.
K to the rescue, just held down a button until a real voice answered, allowing me to tell her that it was a false alarm. It just wasn’t the way I wanted Friday to end.
I really love my life here at Winterpast. I love my independence and the fact that I don’t injure myself very often, except maybe when tripping over a dog bed or running into my Jeep bumper. I realize these are two check marks on T and K’s list for reasons to carefully consider a possible need for a move to “THE HOME”.
Since they left, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Functioning normally, I’ll save up my outrageous antics for the next version on “Geriatric Blunders With The Kids (Who Aren’t Kids But Adults). My leg still hurts like hell, not helping my bruised pride to feel any better.
Be careful. Injuries can occur when you least expect it. By the way, as an elderly person living alone, you might want to re-read the instructions for turning off your “Fall and Call” machine. You just never know when this could happen to you. With a gimp and a limp, I send you good thoughts for a happy today. More tomorrow.