Timing is Everything
I have a pretty set routine in the morning ... and really TRY to wake up at the same time Monday thru Friday ... some days it works, other days, not so much.
So this past Wednesday, it was one of them off days. 7am and I'm still in my pajamas, mascara smudged under my eyes, my hair in a half-ass pony tail and just trudging along with my third cup of coffee.
Go to the front window and do the left to right sweep ... pickup and 2 cars are in MY drive, check, both kids are home and no one stole the pickup ... newspaper is there, continue on to the right, neighbors must have dropped a red shirt or something when they got out of their car last night, continue to the right, oh there's kitty ... sweep back to the left, why is Mr. Watt's looking under his car?
WAIT!! Mr. Watts would NOT be looking under his car as he's old and walks with a cane. I yelled out to Hubby "call 911 and tell them we need an ambulance right away!"
And off I went out the front door.
My neighbor, bless his heart, is O L D and has had strokes, heart attacks quadruple bypass and still gets up and walks daily, every morning and every night.
Unfortunately, this particular morning, something happened and he went down, face first.
I sat with him for 20 minutes waiting for that ambulance. He was in and out of consciousness. All I could do was sit next to him, keep him on his side and just rub his back, pat his hand and try to keep him calm when he was awake. Blood everywhere which made me even more sad. When he would go very still, I kept running to the door of his house and beat on it, rang the doorbell, opened the door and YELLED "Mrs. Watts! Mrs. Watts! It's Jan from across the street! I need you to come outside" with no response. 3 times I did that :-(
I sat with him, talked nonsense and then some. Just so he would know someone was with him. I even mentioned the beautiful white kitten we are trying find a home for. Yes, even in an extreme moment of weakness, I'm trying to pawn the kitten off...
FINALLY the ambulance shows up. EMT's bring all the good stuff out and are trying to get him to respond. I run to the door, 4th time, and see the light is off inside so REALLY beat on the door ... finally she answers ... tell her that's he's fallen and she's out the door before I can tell her that the ambulance is there.
48 hours later, he's home and has a walker with 4 wheels ... as she said, if nothing else, this is a godsend in that now he uses a walker as he protested using one before.
They called me his angel. And brought me beautiful roses, a lovely card and a book called Jesus Calling.
I'm not an over religious person ... but can I just tell you, I really think that I was in the right place at the right time ... no one from the street would have seen him. Mrs. Watts said she walked out but didn't see him or I .,. we were on the ground on the other side of the car! ...
This is the same man who would come over every morning when Hubby had his accident and say a prayer for Mark and every evening do the same ...
I'm not telling you this to make myself seem like an "angel" in any one's eyes, but rather, to pay attention, to SEE what you are looking at ... my first glance was an wrinkled up red shirt on the driveway ...
I think he will be fine. He's old and getting frailer as the days go by. She's 20 years younger and well, I'm sure it's taking her toll (we talked about door alarms so she will hear when he leaves for a walk) ... and I'm VERY thankful that I have that morning routine of checking out the drive and yard!
So this past Wednesday, it was one of them off days. 7am and I'm still in my pajamas, mascara smudged under my eyes, my hair in a half-ass pony tail and just trudging along with my third cup of coffee.
Go to the front window and do the left to right sweep ... pickup and 2 cars are in MY drive, check, both kids are home and no one stole the pickup ... newspaper is there, continue on to the right, neighbors must have dropped a red shirt or something when they got out of their car last night, continue to the right, oh there's kitty ... sweep back to the left, why is Mr. Watt's looking under his car?
WAIT!! Mr. Watts would NOT be looking under his car as he's old and walks with a cane. I yelled out to Hubby "call 911 and tell them we need an ambulance right away!"
And off I went out the front door.
My neighbor, bless his heart, is O L D and has had strokes, heart attacks quadruple bypass and still gets up and walks daily, every morning and every night.
Unfortunately, this particular morning, something happened and he went down, face first.
I sat with him for 20 minutes waiting for that ambulance. He was in and out of consciousness. All I could do was sit next to him, keep him on his side and just rub his back, pat his hand and try to keep him calm when he was awake. Blood everywhere which made me even more sad. When he would go very still, I kept running to the door of his house and beat on it, rang the doorbell, opened the door and YELLED "Mrs. Watts! Mrs. Watts! It's Jan from across the street! I need you to come outside" with no response. 3 times I did that :-(
I sat with him, talked nonsense and then some. Just so he would know someone was with him. I even mentioned the beautiful white kitten we are trying find a home for. Yes, even in an extreme moment of weakness, I'm trying to pawn the kitten off...
FINALLY the ambulance shows up. EMT's bring all the good stuff out and are trying to get him to respond. I run to the door, 4th time, and see the light is off inside so REALLY beat on the door ... finally she answers ... tell her that's he's fallen and she's out the door before I can tell her that the ambulance is there.
48 hours later, he's home and has a walker with 4 wheels ... as she said, if nothing else, this is a godsend in that now he uses a walker as he protested using one before.
They called me his angel. And brought me beautiful roses, a lovely card and a book called Jesus Calling.
I'm not an over religious person ... but can I just tell you, I really think that I was in the right place at the right time ... no one from the street would have seen him. Mrs. Watts said she walked out but didn't see him or I .,. we were on the ground on the other side of the car! ...
This is the same man who would come over every morning when Hubby had his accident and say a prayer for Mark and every evening do the same ...
I'm not telling you this to make myself seem like an "angel" in any one's eyes, but rather, to pay attention, to SEE what you are looking at ... my first glance was an wrinkled up red shirt on the driveway ...
I think he will be fine. He's old and getting frailer as the days go by. She's 20 years younger and well, I'm sure it's taking her toll (we talked about door alarms so she will hear when he leaves for a walk) ... and I'm VERY thankful that I have that morning routine of checking out the drive and yard!
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