Esther Fractured Her Pelvis

Last week Esther fell in her front yard and fractured her pelvis. She is feisty, and with a walker is managing well enough. When we went to the hospital for the x-ray the receptionist said that she had been seen at the hospital in 2006. She was very perplexed about that. "When was I ever here?" I reminded her that she had taken a walk on a Sunday and decided to take a shortcut by the bowling alley. She was heading to Rite Aid to get some beer. Since she can't see very well, the shortcut turned out to be a bad idea, because she forgot THAT the Clackamas River was there and she fell down the embankment a little, breaking her left arm. She was 85 at that time. So she picked herself up and climbed up the embankment. A couple of young men asked her if she was okay and offered help, but she declined, of course, saying she was "Just fine.". She finished her walk, figuring that she needed the beer even more, because her arm was killing her. She managed to get into the store and buy herself a 6 pack. Then she realized she was in too much pain to walk the mile plus back home and decided to wait on the bus stop so she could catch a ride home. She had her beer in a paper bag and opened one, keeping it in the bag, and started drinking it to ease the pain. That's the last thing she remembered. She evidently passed out on the bus stop, someone there saw her and called 911. They picked her up and took her to the hospital, and you can guess the rest of the story. We were sitting in church and Jerry had his pager on. It went off and he called to see who it was. It was the police calling about the whole incident. He went over to the hospital and stayed there until they released her later that day. She did pretty well for someone of that age, with only one arm, and was able to fend for herself, with a little help from us, her neighbors, and friends from the senior center. One can only guess what the people who found her thought, since she dresses like a homeless person all the time. We were grateful to them. So now, she is on the mend again and has to use a walker for the first time in her life.. She is being a trooper.