Wednesday, December 30, 2009

The big fall

It is important to have a few interesting Christmas stories to keep the conversation going each year... "remember the year when Michele and I knocked over the Christmas tree while fighting..." or "remember that year we abandoned the family for Wisconsin Dells..." or "remember that year when 88 year old Grandma Dorothy slipped on the last 2 steps and broke her ankle..." OH WAIT, that was this year!

There we are enjoying a lovely Christmas eve gathering at my parents. Because of the snowstorm and late night my parents had picked Dorothy, an adopted grandma and close family friend, up earlier and planned for her to spend the night. We had been enjoying conversation and a delicious meal together upstairs but could hold the kids off no longer, it was time to open presents. My mom had decided to open up the gifts downstairs this year which seemed like an exciting idea as we had always opened up gifts in my grandma's downstairs on Christmas eve growing up. My Grandma had always made Christmas eve special and now after she is gone we still try to hold on to some of the many traditions she brought us on this holiday. Dorothy had been present for all those Christmas eve's as well.

I go downstairs and start passing the gifts out. My dad has just asked Dorothy if she needs help and has been assured that she is fine. As I am standing around the corner I suddenly hear a fall, rush around the corner and see Dorothy sitting on the stairs. "Are you OK?" I ask. The correct answer was supposed to be, "Yes I just slipped" but instead she answered, "I don't think so." She indicated her ankle and as I looked down I knew it was broken. That is not the normal way an ankle looks even if it is swollen and that was an awful lot of swelling to occur within moments of the fall. By this time my mom, dad and husband have arrived and I gladly step back to let them assess the situation. There is a reason I never considered going into the medical field, just that little interaction was all I could handle.

Once they moved her to a chair I knew what I could handle...taking pictures!






Initially Dorothy was hiding her face from me but eventually I got her to smile for me. This is how she handles everything in life, with a calm smile. Ankle broken in 2 places and dislocated she sit here smiling while we wait for the paramedics to arrive.

While the paramedics were checking her out and preparing to bring her upstairs She and my mom were deciding what she needed to bring in her purse, wondering if she should change her clothes and in general planning for her hospital stay.

They wheeled her up the stairs on this chair and then out to the ambulance where my dad rode with her to the hospital.

The moment she got to the top of the stairs Isabelle looked around and said, "NOW can we open our presents?" That's my girl.

3 comments:

  1. Melanie!!! I'm nursing in that picture and you can see my bra!!!!!

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  2. You can't see your bra...unless you zoom in on the picture. Which nobody would have done until you commented...I did notice you were nursing but didn't think it was terribly obvious and you were fully covered. It is part of life. What are you saying? You want me to take it down? Dorothy looks so good in it.

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  3. This is what memories are made of , Julia!! ha

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