On Christmas Eve my Papa broke his foot. He was walking down the hill from his house to the pasture to take some carrots to the horses when he fell down the hill. We got the call that my aunt (who lives with my Grandparents) had found him crawling in the doorway and was taking him to the hospital. I was so upset knowing he literally had to crawl about 200 ft to get back to his house at 7am in the morning all because left the house without telling anyone. My Nana had been in bed listening to Christmas music, my aunt was still asleep, and Ben and I were right next door making breakfast. Not once did he yell for help because he was embarrassed and didn’t want anyone to see he had fallen.
That upsets me so much. I can’t begin to know what it feels like to be so embarrassed about getting injured that you don’t want anyone to know it happened. Of course my Papa is old school and hates doctors with a passion. He tried to convince my aunt that he could wrap it in an Ace bandage, stay off it a few days, and it would be fine, nothing more than a sprain, but it was obvious his foot was broken.
Oh Christmas I had a talk with my Papa. I (as I have done so many times) urged him to be more careful by remembering to put his non slip grippers on the bottom of his shoes (my aunt bought them for him knowing how unsteady he is on his feet on icy mornings), and if nothing else I reminded him he should never ever leave the house without his cell phone in his pocket. Heck I don’t ever leave the house without my cell phone in my pocket, even when I’m just going out to hang laundry on the line or feed the horses. There are too many coyotes roaming around here getting too brave, and I don’t want to find myself in a situation where I need help and can’t get it. Anywho, even though we knew it would be awhile before he was up and about I ran out the day after Christmas and bought him a case with a belt clip for his phone so he could easily clip it to his side on his way out the door. He promised he would use it and he could call me immediately if he needed help.
Fast forward to today. I walked out on the porch to get another load of wood for the wood stove, and what do I see? My Papa, broken foot in a walking cast, holding onto the walker my Nana bought him to get around the house, slowly moving through the yard headed towards the pasture. Yes, the doctor told him he should be walking around the house and putting weight on his foot, but I don’t think the doctor meant head outside on the coldest morning of the year and walk around on frost covered ground.
I felt bad for scolding him, but I did. I know the only reason he was out this morning is because my aunt went back to work from her Christmas vacation today, and she wasn’t around to keep him in check. He said my Nana was driving him crazy (lol he often escapes her tirades by piddling around in the barn), and he had to get away for a bit. I asked what she was ranting about this time, and he said he wanted to make more coffee, and she pitched a fit that he couldn’t because she’d just washed the coffee pot (you’d have to know my very OCD neat freak Nana to understand). He didn’t even tell her he’d gone outside or that he was walking as far away as my house (a pretty long walk for a lil old man with a walking cast and walker), so I told him to call her to let her know he was down here and I’d make him some coffee. That’s when he confessed he didn’t have his phone, so I would have to call her.
I took him inside and called Nana myself while I made him some coffee. The poor lil man was sitting in front of the wood stove shivering he was so cold, and he admitted the cold was really hurting his broken foot. When he was warmed up I left him with Ellie and walked next door for his car, loaded him up, and took him home. There was no way I was letting him walk back up there, and Ellie ended up begging to stay with Nana for a few hours.
Sigh. What am I going to do with him? I can’t exactly lock him inside or sew his phone to his hand, so I guess I’ll just have to keep an extra eye out now that I know he’s willing to take off outside with a bum foot in the super cold. Poor guy. I told him if Nana starts driving him crazy in the morning to pick up the phone and call me! I’ll come get him, and he can enjoy some time with Ellie without the drama or walking down the hill and risking getting hurt again.
