Watch Your Step
Back in January of this year, on a Tuesday, right after a lovely breakfast with friends, I went to the grocery store for a few things. Primary target was an eyebrow pencil because mine had just given me it’s last taupe stroke that morning so I didn’t get a cart for that one little thing. You see, having been a lifelong natural blonde, my hair is now more white than blonde and my eyebrows have disappeared, so without a bit of makeup, I look like an alien. Quit laughing. I know it’s a vanity thing.
Long story short, while in the store, my feet found an empty wooden pallet lying across the floor that my eyes had missed. I fell forward onto the floor which resulted in my left shoulder being dislocated, the rotator cuff being torn, and a slight fracture to my large upper arm bone. But this is Mexico and the store didn’t care. You can’t sue people or businesses here like in the states. So I called my regular doctor and she recommended I go to Cruz Roja, the Red Cross, which does handle emergencies and ambulences.
My son, Dan, took me there and the people on duty were wonderful, one spoke pretty good English which helped me a lot. They did an xray and called a trauma specialist who arrived in less than ten minutes. He popped my shoulder back into place and told me where to get a sling that would hold my arm to my body for the next four to six weeks while the tear and fracture healed. Their services cost me the equivalent of $50 US. We went and got the sling and some mild pain medication they recommended and spent another $35.
It’s been seven and a half months since that fall. At first I couldn’t make myself go back into the store, that lasted about four months. I’ve given myself a year for full mobiity and have regained quite a bit so far but I still have movement restrictions. Dan had to handle the farm chores for a week until I could push myself to do some things one handed. Slowly I was able to use my left hand, then my arm from elbow down, and finally after six weeks the upper arm in limited ways.
The number of times I hear about other lakeside seniors taking spills is amazing and scary. We don’t bounce like we did as kids and we break much more easily. I’ve never been athletic or graceful, or had a good sense of balance, and the roads here are largely very bumpy with stones and uneven curbs. It doesn’t matter where you are or how many years old you are either, watch where you’re going!
How did this come to mind today and beg to be written about? It’s Tuesday again, I had breakfast again with the ladies, and I needed to go to the grocery store for an eyebrow pencil. Today I got a cart. And when I was reaching into the cold case for a gallon of milk, I hooked the toe of my shoe on something below it and caught myself from falling with the cart.
The grocery store continues to try to kill me but I’ve gotten smarter. You do that here. All of the good air, sunshine, and natural food clears your brain and you just can’t help being more healthy. And it’s a good thing because I have 90 animals counting on my well being and three new litters of bunnies due tomorrow.
Would I exchange this life for one back in the states where I’d be a rich woman if the same thing had happened? Not on your life. I still have times of stress, days that aren’t stellar, But I’m debt free. I have a home in the country with a beautiful lake view where we can build it to sustain us with meat, fruits, and vegetables. I’m a homesteader here and being on the land with my animals makes me happy.
I hope your path takes you to a place where you can be happy inside, so you can be happy outside.
Blessings!
