It's been almost a year now since I fell, having an intimate moment with the sidewalk. It took a few months from the blood stains to be worn away the concrete. Since I didn't break anything I was lucky I guess. I walked away with a perpetual stiff neck and oh yeah, I use a cane now when I walk.
It sucks a little to use a cane because I went almost twenty nine years without needing anything. I navigated my way through college, four wives, several jobs without needing or more accurately said having help. Now it just seemed safer to surrender some of my independence.
One unexpected benefit I got from using a cane now is suddenly everyone thinks I'm smart. When the doctors patched me up after the fall, when I thought they were giving me morphine, it must have been some intelligence boosting cocktail.
If only it was a easy as that. What changed was not my IQ but others perception. The fact that I had a cane maybe evoked some deep seated empathy or perhaps sympathy, whatever. Anyway, it made them pause long enough to listen to my slurred, somewhat garbled speech long enough to realize I had something to say.
It was a long time coming but it's nice to be finally heard.
No comments:
Post a Comment