I've Fallen and I Can't Get Up

Ok, you know how there are certain phrases which have become a part of our culture? Take the one above. For those of you who don't know, it's the catchphrase for an old commercial. The ad was for a device that would let the elderly alert a service that they were in trouble. These words were spoken by this elderly woman who had fallen and could't get up. Now, maybe it's because the commercial was low budget and so the acting was less than convincing. Maybe we had just become too cynical or hardened against such sights. Whatever, the phrase quickly became a joke. Heck, I've used it a time or two myself. We just don't think much about what they could really mean in reality.

On Friday night, my 83-year-old aunt (yes, the one in PA I wrote about) fell down and couldn't get up. She doesn't know why she fell. And apparently she wasn't strong enough to push herself up. So, she dragged herself to the kitchen for a flashlight so she could see the phone to call someone. Why she chose the neighbors instead of out home, who knows. But they came up and helped her into bed. She was ok on Saturday until she took a bath. For some reason, she couldn't get out of the tub. This was 4p. Well, a few years ago, I'd bought her a cordless phone so that she could carry it with her in case such things happened. Did she have the phone with her? No, of course not. So, in the tub she sat and waited, hoping someone would come by. She stayed like that until Sunday morning. By that time, her leg had swollen up. The friend who takes her to church came by and she was able to make herself heard. He managed to help her out of the tub and then went out to the farm on his way to church.

My nephew, Daniel, went out to her house and, with the neighbor's help again, got her to her bed. The neighbor called for an ambulance because the leg looked icky. Jami, who had come up to hang out with the fam, came over with Cynthia and they stayed for a little while. Daniel rode with her to the hospital. Well, turned out that she was suffering from dehydration and cellulitis in the leg. Other than that, she's fine. No obvious reasons for why she's having problems.

Well, we have a few speculations. One, she is getting on in years. Couple that with her tendency not to eat much (she weighs 110 pounds and her 5'1 frame has shrunk to 4'11) and take a bedtime sleeping pill with a whiskey chaser. . .and I think you can see why. Yes, we've nagged her about these things. Doesn't do much good. So, now she is in the hospital and they are keeping her until they decide that she is well enough again. She has had physical therapy to help her walk better (she took 23 steps today) but she still isn't eating much. She admits that she is a picky eater and hospital food, well, we all know how truly gourmet that is. So, we'll see.

At any rate, it made me think about the phrase because when she was telling me about what happened, I couldn't help but hear that line as a joke. Only now, doesn't really seem all that funny. And yet, it still does. Why? Probably because she is all right now. Or maybe I am just too numb to such happenings in my family. Most likely it's because my family has a warped sense of humor and tend to laugh in times of crisis. . .especially when they are momentarily over.