She's under 5 feet tall and weighs about 83 pounds. She's 84 years old and has spent the better part of a year, May 19,2008 to the present, either in the hospital or in rehabilitation. I call her a lot of different names, Gloria, Pain in the posterior, and Mom.
She fell in her front yard on May 19, 2008, and broke her left femur. She was in a lot of pain as you might imagine. She waited through the next day before they got her to the operating table where they installed a rod and pin. A few days latter she was on her way to the nursing home for rehab both physical and occupational. She came home in August, on a Friday, and fell that evening breaking her tibia. Back to the hospital and then to the rehab for another span of time. I honestly have lost track of it.
She would be back in the hospital one more time to have the rod and pin removed. The pin was giving her a lot of trouble because she had, as the Pennsylvania Dutch like to say, no meat on her bones. They put a ball in place. They walked her before taking an x-ray and she hurt her femur again. But they got her back together. They gave her some rehab at the hospital and sent her to a home, again, for more rehab. She will be home, hopefully permanently, on February 3, 2009. I saw her on Monday afternoon and she's still smiling. I ask myself if I would be that optimistic. Keep in mind that she has also lost money in the market. She hasn't even checked because she believes it will come back. Need I tell you that she grew up during the Great Depression? If I told you her life story you would weep.
I wake up every day thankful for folks like my Mom and Dad. They taught me how to look at the world. They gave me strength and courage.. Some days it is tough to smile. The WSJ just reported that consumer confidence plummeted yet again in January. Should we wallow in that gloomy news or should we go forward and be optimistic like our moms.
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