January 8, 2009. Mexico. Ice and Snow.

When I turn eighty, winter for me will never see ice or snow. My intention, when I am eighty or older, is to be either in the South or in Mexico. Not even a week will I see ice and snow. No Never. My Sister just fell in the parking lot of a store. Her feet flew out in front of her and her head hit the pavement hard. A very nice man came to her rescue and helped her into her car, where she called her son Ben who came immediately and took her to the hospital where after multiple types of x rays determined that she had no broken bones but had a concussion. It left her nauseated and prone to fainting, so they kept her in the hospital for two days until she was able to be up and about on her own. Now she is home, but not able to get around much. She is the only driver in their family, and as they live on a lake south of Owen Sound, they are very much isolated. Except they have good friends in Owen Sound and around the lake, so I think they will be fine, but it is not a pretty picture for her.

The most irritating aspect of the whole thing for Carol is that she was being very careful, picking her way across the parking lot and staying away from the ice. She was wearing very clunky boots with a heavy tread. But she stepped on a piece of the blacktop that was covered by ice, the so called 'black ice', and her feet just flew up in the air and her head hit the pavement behind her. I asked her if she was walking quickly, but she said she was not. Of course I do not believe her because she does everything quickly, but I guess for her she was walking slowly. She still hit her head on the pavement and now is at home recovering from her concussion, unable to drive or do much of anything at all. So you see, when I am eighty, I am not going into the land of ice and snow. No, not me. She is older than me too. Now that I am 71, I promise I will be careful when I am in the snow and Ice season, and when I become eighty, I will winter in Texas, Mississippi or Mexico. You can bet on it.

Now one of the reasons I am so sensitive to falling on the ice has to do with my Grandmother. She was in good health at 95, still able to speak at church meetings. She read widely, and still read, wrote and spoke French as well as her native English. The only problem for her was her arthritis. She fell on the ice when she was getting into the car, and broke her hip. She lived in Toronto , where the medical care was excellent, but she contacted pneumonia while in the hospital and she died. It seemed so silly to me, that this very able lady slipped on a piece of ice and then died. I decided right then and there, that when I am 95, I am not going outside in the ice and snow. In fact, now that I am smarter now than when I was 22, I have decided that 80 is the cut off. Call me a chicken if you want, but not for me a slip on the ice. No never. Not me. Not ever.