Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall...

Remember how Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall and then he had a great fall? Well, for the sake of this story, Grandma Mary will play the role of Humpty Dumpty, the wall will actually be replaced by a wall of different sorts- Wal-Mart to be exact, and yes, there was a great fall. Lucky for Grandma Mary (and all of us too), all the doctors were able to put her back together again.

I get a call Monday morning from my father. As soon as I saw the caller ID I knew something was wrong. My dad has never made a habit of calling me at seven in the morning and so when he did, I thought the worst (we do we always do that? What if he were calling to tell me he had won a million dollars? Maybe some day all those Publishers Clearing house entry forms I filled out WITHOUT purchasing the magazines will pay off... I'll hold my breath for THAT call).

Anyway, Dad was calling to tell me that Grandma took a spill at her favorite walking location: Wal-Mart where she's a regular and all the workers know and love her. She goes every morning before the crack of dawn and walks the perimeter of the store. Monday didn't turn out to be a good walking day. Apparently Grandma slipped on some baby oil that had spilled the floor and landed on her right knee (I guess she was in a lot of pain as you can imagine).

At this point, Dad didn't know if she had shattered her knee cap or dislocated it, but he did know she was in pain. And he did know they would be heading straight to the hospital. And I knew that Grandma was "rip roarin' mad" that she lost the fight between her and the Wal-Mart floor. Nobody messes with Grandma Mary. She's the sweetest little lady in the world, but one tough cookie, I tell you what.

So as of yesterday, I learned that Grandma broke her knee cap in three different places. Doctor said to imagine a plate falling on the floor and breaking, not shattering, but breaking into three different pieces. This is what happened to Grandma's knee cap. Overall, Grandma was really lucky as things could have been a lot worse. At least she didn't break her back or shatter a hip, or crack her head open. At least she didn't break multiple bones or crack ribs. At least it was just her knee right? Although the fact that Grandma is full of arthritis makes me wonder how well she'll be able to walk again considering she's got about 6 weeks of healing time ahead of her, including a summer of physical therapy.

I gotta hand it to her though, Grandma is a strong woman. She has been through so much in her lifetime, including losing her father at a very young age, and then one by one each of her brothers died leaving her with only one brother left. She watched her step father die a slow death of cancer, and watched her own mother battle three different types of cancers. She also took care of Grandpa after he had a major stroke and lost the ability to communicate as easily as he had before. Not to mention, she's put up with my family over the years and still manages to love us despite our crazy antics. Needless to say, all of these endeavors have made Grandma a strong woman.

Grandma Mary is loved by so many. All my friends adore and love her as if she were their grandma too. She's not "Michelle's Grandma" because she's Grandma Mary to everyone which just thrills her to no end. And I know my family wouldn't be as strong as we are without her love, support, wisdom, and strength. She might be tiny, she might be a little wrinkled, but she's shown me the meaning of strength and durability on more than one occasion.

It takes a strong and determined woman like Grandma Mary to give that Humpty Dumpty a run for his money (or egg shells). After all, Grandma didn't shatter, and she didn't require all the King's horses and all the King's men to put her back together again, just a little bit of wire, and two hours of the good doctor's time. And and now that I know she's going to be okay, I can put meyself back together again too.