Guys and Gals From The Fire Department

This is from several years ago, but a cute story of help, thank you notes and kind persons who were strangers until I met them in an emergency. I fell last week in my bathroom before taking a shower. I did a dumb thing. I was wearing a little sock and I raised my left foot to kick the sock off before I stepped into the shower, leaning on my right leg, which isn't in very good shape. It gave out and down I went, stuck in a small bathroom and unable to raise myself up. My husband tried to lift me, but I could not help him. I was able to push myself across the adjoining bedroom all the way to my king size bed. Believe me it was a hard task, but I finally maneuvered myself over there and he put a chair there for me to hold onto. I still could not raise myself up and we finally had to call 911. They were out with two medics in about ten minutes or so, but it felt like an hour. Two friendly, young women helped me up with great ease. They were adorable. They told me their names. One was Angel and one was Christie Brinkley. So I had my own personal Angel and the actress Christie assisting me. Christie told me everyone comments on her name. In the forty-nine years we have lived in our home, I have never had to call 911. They came out from our fire department in Pikesville. Yesterday, I called in the evening to commend them for their wonderful and kind help. I spoke to the one in charge and he said no one ever calls to thank them and he wanted the Captain to hear it, too. I was connected to him and he was also appreciative. I told them both a funny story. When I was about fourteen, I had to walk home from high school past the fire department in that area. One of the firemen was named Billy and he had been our neighbor at one time. His nickname was Buster. When he saw me walk by, he would whistle as men did in those days at good-looking girls. He would yell out, “there goes Sohmer.” I was so embarrassed for the other girls I was walking with. It was done in jest. One day I yelled back, “Billy, if you do not stop, I will tell your friends there what your nickname is.” It was the name the family called him as a young boy and he did not like it. His name was Earl. He stopped yelling out to me as I walked by, he only whistled. It was cute. Back to my medical emergency, the time on the floor was difficult. I went to the doctor's to get checked out, and other than hurting a lot, I didn't do any damage to my senior body. I needed Aleve for a few days, couldn't exercise and had to use the pretty cane I had been resisting doing. I also needed some additional Tylenol to assist with some of the aches and had my good looking 83-year-old husband assist me in other things. It is no fun but I did not hurt anything seriously so far. My Angel, my Christie and my beloved Dennis all saved me. My husband was there throughout the ordeal and by my side. There is a saying. It's not mine, but it is a good one.

It says “Walk through life with me, the best is yet to come.” I hope so. Walking right now is difficult. I have learned to use the cane. You hold it in the opposite hand of the injured area. So I hold it in my left hand, put the cane forward, then the left foot, then the right foot. It is almost like learning a new dance step. Left, left, right and back to left. I call it my left cane pain step. Wow, back to learning a dance step makes me feel young again. We learned so many steps in those days from 1977-2002. A long time of learning, loving, living, linking, liking and being lucky in doing so. There is another saying I've heard before. “Never give up, ever.” So I cannot give up, I will walk again, maybe even better. I am going for another opinion, a new-to-me orthopedic doctor, and maybe, if I am lucky, he will give me a magic shot and I will be able to walk better, dance again and not hurt from the bad knee. I will not fall again and I will be able to get up more easily from a seat just like when I was a young girl. My new friend, the cane, will assist me when needed. I notice lots of people using canes and I should not be so silly and not rely on it, especially when I'm outside or going into a building. My pride kept me from trying to use it when it was deemed necessary by the doctor and the physical therapist many months ago. I notice people with fancy and colored canes, really ‘cute’ ones, and they move along with them as if they were at a social dance. Now I am comparing using a cane to a dance step. That is OK for now.

My cane is my new friend and I will make the most of it. I will no longer think of it as an enemy that makes me look like an old lady. It is my friend, my helper. Frank Crane said “a friend is a person you dare to be yourself with.” So here is to my cane, my friend, my object I can be myself with. I do not need to hide my fear of being seen with it. It can change colors like a dress or blouse if I choose for it to do, and most of all it will be my assistant, just as Christie, Angel and Dennis did. They supported me getting up off the floor and helped me get better. A doctor I know of, who is probably the only person in this country who has read the Obamacare health law, said that when she gets tired from work, she “goes to visit my rosebushes at night.” I presume she means she turns on the outside light of her home and looks at her pretty flowers and that calms and soothes her. I think it a fine saying and my friend from California says “today is a magical day. I was able to shift my perception from ego to possibility and I reached out in love to people and I experienced immediate peace and happiness. To me that is magical.” This is from Steven Behr Sr. my mentor over the internet and my buddie. Perhaps, I am now reaching out to my cane to assist me in ordinary walking needs, and along with Christie, Angel and Dennis, I will find the magic that my friend from California expounds upon and everything will be magical again. Then I will have to plant some rosebushes to look at them at night. Combined with the flowers, the cane, and the magic, I will be flying high and walking tall. The following are two notes about this story.     "Angels" of Pikesville June 5, 2013 at 09:18 pm Mrs. Clayman, your the best; the boys are teasing us now at the firehouse. We love what we do especially helping great couples like you two, it was a honor to service you and with sincerity a pleasure to meet you. Respectfully, Medic 2 Crew in "Pikesville!" ELITA SOHMER CLAYMAN FAIRFAX STATION PATCH  writersinwoods Jun 12, 2013 1:17pm Sorry to hear of your adventure, but glad you're back on track to staying young at heart, even if there are bad days BELIEVE IT OR NOT THIS KIND NOTE FROM A FELLOW WRITER AND HER NAME IS SUSAN WRITER FROM MARYLAND. CUTE.