The Upside of Aging

Aging is something I sometimes recognize in myself. When it does happen, I'm always astonished. It takes a literal upset to awaken me. Like this week when I fell. I had kicked an Amazon package inside my front door in the late sunny morning and went out to cut three peach-pink roses. With my face still in the petals, I forgot about the package when I walked in over the transom to my darkened living room. I tripped. I spun backwards, pirouetting up into the air. I watched myself from outside my body, in eerie slow motion almost as if I were able to change my trajectory; instead, I crashed down hard on my wood floor. I landed on my back with a thwack and then my head hit the floor with such a loud crack that the postwoman delivering mail to my neighbor could hear me. She ran in and pulled out her phone to call an ambulance. But I refused 911. I had not been knocked out. I was just winded and nauseous. I thanked her and got up, her hand welcome. Yet seeing her phone inspired me to use mine to Google the word concussion and scroll down to symptom: nausea, yes. Treatment: none. I made my way to my guest bedroom and sank down on soft, comforting pillows. As I lay there, I recalled family and friends who had fallen, some my age, some older. One hadn't seen a sunken living room and fell, breaking his hip, the precursor to his death. One had tripped outside, pruning camellias, breaking her forearm. Another sprained her wrist, tangled in her unruly dog's leash. Nothing out of the or...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news