Favorite Relatives

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All my relatives are favorites, but they are most favorite when they are visiting me. John’s sister Barbara and Thom were here for a night, between visiting his brother in the middle of this state and one of their children in Maryland. It was wonderful to see them and catch up on their news. We talked a lot the evening they arrived, and we continued as we walked to the stop sign the next morning. I forgot to take a photo of us there; it was much easier to remember to take pictures at the creek. Thom did the honors with a selfie at the house.

I loved the roundup of news. Here are the brackets. Their youngest grandchild is three years old and has an amazing vocabulary. The oldest has a job in California, but she lives and works remotely in Manhattan. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was COASTing along.

As Barbara and Thom left here, they were heading to see two of four grandsons playing soccer in Maryland. They would have time to be together after the games, and the trip home to Long Island the next day would be a familiar one. Knowing them, they will hit the ground running. We didn’t have a lot of time together here, but we made the most of it. I enjoyed every minute.

After they left, David and I had a good laugh about the beginning of my day. Right now the easiest way to accommodate guests is for them to stay in my room, and I sleep in David’s room. I must have been reaching to shut off the alarm when I felt myself slipping off the lower bunk. On the way down, I told myself not to make a noise, and I didn’t scream. I didn’t even groan, but I did land with a thud. I looked toward David’s bed and didn’t see any movement, so I thought I was the only one who knew I’d fallen out of bed. David’s story? He heard a thump, raised his head, asked softly if I was OK, and after no response from me, put his head down again. He saw me moving and knew I was fine. Without hearing aids, I thought the room had been totally quiet. Just now, to satisfy my curiosity, I measured the distance from the top of the mattress to the floor. It was only 18 inches. I DO know better than to fall out of my bed. The fall there would be 33 inches.

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Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

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31 thoughts on “Favorite Relatives”

  1. Over Fourth of July weekend I was sitting on the kitchen chair typing a WP comment and I heard a terrific crack and the kitchen chair fell apart and collapsed and I ended up on the floor – maybe 2 or 2 1/2 foot drop. Yikes! I just sat there on the floor for a few minutes wondering what happened and thankfully there is a footstool nearby so I used it to get back on my feet as the chair was in two pieces and I was still in shock. 🙂

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    1. That was an unceremonious dump. I’m glad you weren’t hurt. If your mother had been in the room, would y’all have laughed once you knew you were not hurt? Lise would be my best accident partner. She couldn’t quit laughing the time I fell off her exercise bike. It was most amusing.

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      1. Yes – I am glad I was alone when it happened and yes my mom would have had a big laugh about me dumping out on the floor. And I’m sure the neighbors saw that chair split in half and thought “how does someone’s chair break in half like that?” I put it out in two pieces. After I picked myself up, dusted myself off, I ran down the hall to see if I had a bruise or any bones were sticking out where they shouldn’t be … I felt pretty lucky since I went down hard. I took another kitchen chair and polished it up (thinking the wood had dried and that might have contributed to the problem) and am using it now. That was my kitchen chair back in Canada – we brought the maple wood kitchen table and chairs and corner cabinet over from Canada, so I know it was almost 60 years old.

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          2. My mom had a quad cane she used about the last 10 years of her life. But it wasn’t the usual quad cane (skinny cane with four little prong feet on the bottom); hers looked like an oil derrick. Very solid and secure … anyway, she used to sit it next to her kitchen chair to make it easier to get up out of a chair. She rested her left arm on the handle while she read the newspaper, a book or did puzzles (she was right-handed). I was working outside on Summer day – it was hot and I came inside to cool off and get a cold drink. I had sweat in my eyes and my eyes were a bit blurry and coming back from the fridge, I tripped over the cane – Mom almost fell out of the chair as she was leaning on it with her arm. I saved myself from falling, but bruised my toe so badly I was sure it was broken – it still doesn’t feel right, but there were no broken bones, so we taped it and I went on. I had taken my shoes off as I’d been out in the garden. Luckily I had socks on or who knows what I would have done to my toe. She called me a “clumsy fool” and “how long has that cane been there Linda?” – yes she was kidding, but c’mon Mom!

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              1. And as I recall, Sugar, our canary, was sitting singing away and I went stumbling and bumbling across the kitchen and scared him so unexpectedly that he flew all over his cage in fright. 🙂

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  5. You have to be careful about rolling out of bed! Yikes! Sometimes short visits are the best. Since you know you don’t have a lot of time, you pack things into it.

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  6. Well at least you are ok and didn’t have to challenge the visit with a visit to the Dr….
    At our age accidents can come as a total surprise. I know you take care as do I but as a reminder..Do be careful.

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  9. You have to be careful about rolling out of bed! Tack care, Amehrling. . I can imagine you falling off the bed🤭
    Beautiful selfie pic.
    God bless you!

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  10. It’s always great to see relatives you are fond of. I’m glad you were not hurt falling out of bed. I’m also glad it was the bottom bunk. xo

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