Don't crack the eggs!

Waiting in the labor and delivery room to welcome a new life gives one time to reflect on  their own life. Families of all shapes and sizes and ages wait in eager anticipation. It doesn’t take long before one feels a common bond with all those other families, waiting.

Today I sat waiting for a young friend of mine to give birth to her second child when an older heavy-set woman put her walker aside and sat down beside me. The person with her declined the offer to sit on the couch with us, opting instead to sit on the floor with his back against the wall.

I remarked how I love to sit on the floor and take every opportunity I can to do so. “Oh, but it’s the getting up that’s hard!” they said in unison.  From there the conversation moved to falling and trying to get up. (Did you know that falls are the leading cause of brain injury in older adults?)

On the way home after meeting my friend’s new baby, I thought of the time when my mother came to stay with us to wait for the arrival of her grandchild. Seven weeks of waiting gave us plenty of time to go places, see new sights and run numerous errands.

One cold October day she and I walked three blocks to the grocery store and the nearby hardware store. She thought because I was so ready to go into labor at any time that I should carry the small glass storm window that we had repaired at the hardware store and she would carry the heavy bag of groceries (we only needed eggs). Walking back to the house I asked her if the down coat I had given her was keeping her warm.

“Oh, yes it s---u----r-----eeeeeeee” she replying as she tripped on uneven pavement and began falling forward!  Trying to not fall and break the eggs, she tried to catch her balance by walking faster. I tried to help her by walking faster so that I could grab onto her coat. The coat slipped out of my attempt as she continued to fall. She walked faster again. I tried to grab her coat again. Over and over she would almost go down and I would almost catch her with my free hand while holding the window tightly with the other. After falling forward and traveling almost half a block in distance she finally righted herself without falling  – and I finally grabbed her coat.  Whew, close call.

Oh how we laughed and laughed. She saved the eggs from cracking and I saved the glass from breaking. My daughter was born the next day.

My mom loved birthdays. She always wanted to celebrate the day she was born, September 14, 1919 by swimming in Current River. It didn’t matter what the temperature might be she would come out of the water refreshed and happy, ready to start another year.

Happy Birthday!

Polly always celebrated her birthday by getting wet in Current River.