Over the years I've written several postings on falling and how important it is to be proactive. I have taken several anti-falling classes and currently I'm wearing my Medical Alert button and using my colorful, hand carved cane from Mexico when I'm out and about.
A while back I went to see a good friend who had recently had a bad fall resulting in serious injury. I admire this woman in so many ways. She has a career and is the epitome of living a life that matters. I sat on her couch and asked her to tell me exactly what happened. She told a funny, hair raising story of doing several things after the fall before deciding to get medical help; like feeding and walking the dog, etc. She then drove herself, with her bleeding arm wrapped in a blood soaked towel, to the ER.
So, wanting to be as helpful as possible I said, what you did after the fall was stupid. But I was laughing when I said it and we went on to have a fun visit, as we almost always do. She's one of those strong women who's lived a life rich with many chapters. She's extraordinarily kind and generous but a straight shooter about her beliefs and values - that differ somewhat from mine in the way we live them out. I respect this. She respects me. As I was getting ready to leave she took notice of my hand bag and she expressed concern about how big it was and how it had a short handle that made it difficult to carry on my shoulder. I told her I had all this stuff to carry, blah, blah, blah, as I was gathering myself, the big purse and my cane.
Then she said, Carrying the big purse is stupid! Get rid of it.
So I have downsized.
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