Angels Watching Over Us

Mom always rises before everyone else is out of bed. I guess it is just a habit after all these years. In addition, her bladder will not let her sleep more than a few hours at a time.

The second one up is always Angel. She believes that, because Grandma is up, she needs to go out for her morning “duty” as well. Angel is a good-sized Lab mix. 

When nature calls Angel, the next one up is Mom. Angel will let herself into my room to let me know that it is time to get up. Once school starts back up in the fall, everyone will be up much earlier, but for now, Angel will let me sleep in until about 7:30 in the morning.

Last week was a bit hectic because my cousin was here for a visit from Germany. With no extra bedroom, we decided to put him a very nice hotel that offered a full complimentary breakfast every morning. The hotel is within walking distance to a large shopping plaza and the Brandon mall, which afforded him the opportunity to do a little shopping on his own, should he get the notion. I would pick him up each day and bring him back at night. Each of us would have plenty of room to sleep.

Besides various excursions, I still had to make sure that everyone ate. Cooking, day trips and driving to and from the hotel every day really did take its toll on me. I was exhausted. Grandma decided to take the dog out so that I could sleep.

And sleep I did, until the doorbell rang. The dog began to bark, and the doorbell rang again. After checking the time, I decided the kids could get up to answer the door. It is probably one of their friends anyway. The doorbell rang again.

"What the heck! Why don’t they answer the door?"

Ready to give those kids "what for," I came out of my bedroom just in time to see my daughter opening the door to a strange man standing on my stoop. As I headed toward the door, I quickly scanned the scene. The man was wearing shorts and a sweaty T-shirt, and appeared to be just finishing a morning run. My eyes had already fallen on Grandma, sitting on the stoop with her back against the wall. In a split second, the realization hit me. Grandma Trudy is not as steady on her feet as she once was. I saw someone out on the sidewalk with a couple of big dogs on leashes, and I knew that my mother had fallen, and could not get up.

No sooner had Grandma gone out the door, leash in hand, when Angel caught sight of the other dogs walking along the sidewalk. In a flash, Angel took off after them. Grandma had let go, but the force of the leash being pulled from her hand, was enough to make her lose her balance. She fell flat on her face and bumped her head, again. She managed to pull herself up into a sitting position and called out for me, but I did not hear her. The jogger had come to Grandma’s rescue. He had tried to get her up, but did not know the correct technique. Grandma Trudy, though short in stature, does have some meat on her old bones. She has had both of her knees replaced, neither of which work very well, and she does not have the strength in her hips to get herself off the ground, even with assistance. After several unsuccessful attempts, our jogger hero began to ring the doorbell, which Mom was unable to reach.

After I showed him the proper grasp, we got her up with no fuss. Mom and I thanked our hero, and I quickly ushered Mom into the house and closed the door. I got her to the sofa, where she could lay, feet elevated, for several minutes, with an ice pack on her head. She still has a black eye but the golf ball-sized knot is gone and, thankfully, there were no other injuries.

In the minor chaos of the moment, I did not ask the name of our Jogging Hero, or the person with the dogs. We live in Bloomingdale East. If you are our heroes, please know how thankful we are that you were kind enough to stop and help her. It brings joy to my heart to know there are still Good Samaritans in the world. May God bless you abundantly for your kindness.