megram - Index

megram - 55JunOttawa - Index

not need to do anything in particular
to stop one from happening. That fall
really shook me and I felt fortunate
that I did not break anything.Whew! At
least I don’t have osteoporosis, I
thought.
What that little trip did was force
me to look at my home from the viewpoint
of safety.After all, I was getting
older and,I laughed to myself,I have a
lot of older friends. Scary, that’s what
it was.
The bathroom was the first room I
analyzed. I adore baths and often luxuriate
in deep baths, into which I pour
aromatic oils — a form of aromatherapy
that starts the day off well. Now, I
clean the bath, but occasionally I miss
some of the oil and it proves rather
dangerous when I step in to take a
shower.I never did like those little rubber
decals you can plaster onto the
bath, but a rubber mat has done the
trick.Not quite ready for safety handles
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June 2008 • Ottawa 6 • Fifty-Five Plus Magazine
but they are available and, I believe,
easy to install.
My living room.The scene of the
accident has beautiful wooden stairs
going down into it — wide, polished
wooden stairs at that. I had always felt
secure going up and down but I did
notice some friends pausing at the
top. After all, nobody wants to take a
fall onto that marble. I had my ironwork
friend design me a railing. She
did a beautiful job and guess what? I
use it all the time now,especially since
I have the occasional sciatic pain.
I now have the edges of my area
rugs taped down with double-sided
tape. You never know when one of
my darling cats will decide to attack
the rugs and leave them a little rumpled.I
certainly do not want to repeat
that spectacular fall.
There are so many areas that we
forget; stove burners left on, cupboards
being left open, water on the
floor that hasn’t been mopped up,carrying
too much into the house at one
time. If you sat down with a notebook
and made a list of some of the problem
areas in your home you would be
quite surprised.That is exactly what I
did because, whether or not I want to
admit it, I am older and far less agile
and far more prone to really hurting
myself.
Did I change completely? No. I
still creep into the kitchen at 5 a.m. to
make coffee and I still make my way in
the dark to my favourite yellow chair.
The difference is that I have an extra
night light, which shows up anything
in my way. Plus I am more diligent
about what I leave around on the
floor.
I am in the process of moving and
I have made sure that my new residence
is on one level.At least I won’t
have to worry about stairs.As for walking
in the dark? My night lights are
already packed and ready to go.
Lorna Foreman is a self-described
50+ writer based in Summerstown,
Ontario.