by Pam Young

Organizing Specialist

The Wake-Up Fall

We can learn so much from the so-called negative situations we all have to face from time-to-time in life. Not that we need them in order to grow spiritually, but they certainly help if we let such events teach us something.

While in New York over the holidays, my son Michael and Lou his golden lab and I took a walk on the second day I arrived. It was a beautiful morning in Brooklyn and the two of them were showing me around their neighborhood. It was obviously a younger community with lots of renovation going on. Quaint, old buildings gutted and remodeled like new, young people walking, jogging and enjoying each other. The sidewalks were all lined with the trees that grow in Brooklyn, each succumbing to winter in its own way.

At one point we came to a block that was lined with at least 40 fancy, baby strollers. They were all top-of-the- line carriages; more like portable nurseries.

“Why are all these strollers lined up? Is there a stroller sale going on?” I asked.

“No, the daycare is just up the block and the nannies park them in a line so as not to clog up the sidewalk,” Michael responded.

“These strollers are for babies in a daycare?”

“Yep, the entrance is coming up. Lou loves the babies, so I never want to be here when the daycare lets out! It’s like a rush-hour, stroller jam and all the nannies are pushing these babies while talking or listening on their cell phones and Lou wants to kiss everybody.”

I’d never seen a nanny before, so I started seeing them everywhere! And Mike was right; they all seemed preoccupied with their phones. My heart hurt for the moms and babies who don’t get to be together at this precious, fleeting time in a baby’s and a mom’s life. Michael went on, “Once in a while you’ll see a mom pushing a stroller and you know it’s the mom ‘cause, uh the mom matches the baby.” I started looking for matches as we clipped along to Lou’s pace toward the Promenade. I could see the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

Because of the tree roots, there were many vaulted sidewalks and I managed to catch my toe on one, flew forward like I was shot out of a cannon and didn’t quite get to tuck and roll, so I landed on my right kneecap (it’s called the patella). As I lay there, both my companions were concerned and a woman who witnessed my fall came up to see if she could help. It took about a minute to talk myself into the thought that I just tweaked my knee. I could bend my leg and when I stood up I could put my weight on it without too much pain. Of course I was in shock.

We continued our walk to the Promenade and then headed back to Michael’s apartment to drop Lou off, so we could walk to one of his favorite restaurants for lunch. The restaurant was about eight blocks from the apartment and I kept swinging my leg under my chair while we ate, to see if it caused any pain. It actually felt good. Once we got back home, I proceeded to go about everything with just a little pain. I went to bed early and it wasn’t until I woke up at 3 a.m. that I knew something was really wrong. I couldn’t move my leg without excruciating pain. My whole body ached too. It’s just not used to doing gymnastic-type moves like the one I did to try to catch my fall.

I lay in bed until I heard movement in the living room, and I hobbled to my door. It was Michael making coffee in the kitchen. When I told him what happened he said, “There’s an urgent care clinic in the neighborhood.”

Cliff Note version: Hairline fracture of the patella and the top of the bone underneath which is the tibia. Crutches, brace, pain medication. Stay off leg. Keep leg elevated with ice on it.

I had to keep weight off my leg most of the Christmas holiday.  The most important lesson I learned (and you don’t have to break your kneecap to learn it) is that we need to periodically be still. Just sit in one place and shut up! In the Bible, Psalms 46:10 the words are: “Be still and know that I am God.” It probably was advice about stilling our minds and feeling the presence of God right where we are, but I’ve taken it a step further, “Be still in body and know that I am God.”

Because I tend to run around like a chipmunk on fire a lot of the time, being forced to sit still has allowed my mind to come up with things I need to have and things that need to be done besides sitting at my computer and writing. I always keep a notebook with me and here’s what one of my lists consisted of after one hour of being in one place, and the beauty of it was it was all delegated to Terry:

Need glass of water

Need my purse that’s upstairs in bedroom

Need to get a chicken out of the freezer (thaw in fridge)

Need my slippers (feet are cold)

Need cell phone charger (still in suitcase)

Want yogurt, some almonds and avocado (being still even helped me to focus on what I really wanted to eat rather than hunting for food in the pantry and fridge letting “outside” influences effect my choices by offering me too many options)

Going through the holidays on one leg showed me how to delegate, eliminate and simplify everything that goes with this traditional holiday. I have to tell you, it was a most memorable and happy Christmas!

Happy New Year!

For more from Pam Young go to www.cluborganized.com. You’ll find many musings, videos of Pam in the kitchen preparing delicious meals, videos on how to get organized, lose weight and get your finances in order, all from a reformed SLOB’s point of view.