My dad once rescued an angry mama cow by luring her into a runway where she thought she could mash him flat as a Gumby toy. He let her stay close to his heels until he reached the door into the barn.
Then he grabbed a fencepost and vaulted onto the top railing while the cow’s momentum carried her into the stall where she could tend her newborn calf sheltered from the blizzard outside.
That memory of a lithe and strong man of resource has held firm in my mind as I watched his abilities wither along with his body.
The family woke up to Dad’s challenges when he set his pickup engine on fire. Dad was a master mechanic and even in his 80s he wasn’t afraid to crawl under the hood and adjust a carburetor.
Something went wrong. Something that wouldn’t have gone wrong 10 years before.
The fire scorched the pickup engine and underside of the hood.
Dad was nearly in tears for his clumsy mistake.
We were nearly in tears at the thought of a fire stealing him away from us.
We could have grounded him, taking away his vehicles and finding ways to keep him tethered to a recliner and television.
We didn’t.
We became very interested in his projects. We hung out with him as often as we could, turning a wrench when he started a repair. We listened when he discussed maintenance.
Just like Dad had rescued that angry cow even though she didn’t know it, we had to do the same for Dad.
He’d taught us to solve problems creatively. If he could vault the fence to save a cow, we searched for ways to save him from himself.
Your dad was blessed to have such creative, compassionate daughters. Funny how we’re writing about the same things—I’m working on the ebook to offer at the eldercare conference. As usual, it’s turned into a much bigger project than I’d anticipated. Guess I’ve learned more than I thought in the past two years, much of it from you, thank you very much. J
Marcia
Marcia Washburn
Building Tomorrow’s Generation
http://www.marciawashburn.com
https://www.facebook.com/MarciaKWashburn
I never expected to learn all I have about eldercare. Hope your project goes well!
This is very precious. I can relate to trying to balance safety with preserving dignity and independence for our elders.
It’s a delicate balance, for sure. It helps to keep the goal in mind, that we want safety but it may not be the ultimate thing. Dignity/independence are so important. Thanks for your insights.