The day the music died.

   / The day the music died. #1,081  
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Picture taken with Alabama in 2003.
 
   / The day the music died. #1,082  
Bummer.

Falls and head injuries are nothing to take likely. I know two women who lost their husbands to head injuries from falling down stairs in their homes, and my next door neighbor's wife died from a broken neck falling down the stairs.

Last week I was out in my garage, my work area had accumulated a lot of junk on the floor, I picked up a mower deck and turned around only to feel one of my feet stop mid-stride against something and over I went holding the mower deck. Fortunately, I saw where I was falling and was able to get away with scrapes and a bruise, but the whole time I was going over I was thinking about my next door neighbor and how's this gonna end? Scary.
We all need to be aware of "things" (reflexes, strength, agility...) changing as we age, but it can happen to anyone..... Several people I know had spinal injuries at a young age that put them permanently in a wheelchair.

A now-retired mechanic I know mentioned recently two elderly people he knew who both passed away due to slipping on stairs - one at home on an icy concrete step, another was just a wet step on an RV. Feet went out from under them, fell backward totally uncontrolled, brain-stem separated from the spine when their head hit the step.

Not paying attention, tired..... doesn't take much at all.

Rgds, D.
 
   / The day the music died. #1,083  
Dan McCafferty, singer of Nazareth just passed away. Hair of the Dog was such a great album. Played that vinyl over and over for years.
Wife and I were on a day trip in Central Ontario something like 10-15 years ago, and saw a sign at an old well preserved 1940's dance-hall "Nazareth Tonight". Grabbed dinner, and bought tickets. Great show. I don't remember his exact words, but he gave a great intro (misspent life of rock-star) to This Flight Tonight.

Show ends, we stopped at Tim Hortons (coffee shop) exiting the nearby small town. Had a good laugh with a couple on a motorcycle, that walked in for coffee behind us. Dead quiet on the roads, motorcycle comes up behind me, and follows me all the way through this small town, before we got to Tim's.

When I saw who it was, I said something like "You know, I was pretty sure you were a cop...... Saturday night, middle of nowhere, who else would be riding at exactly the speed limit". Middle-aged couple - we laughed even harder, as it turned out their day was just like ours in one respect...... they were riding a nice dual-sport bike (which could have been a great patrol bike for that area ;-) that was borrowed that day from a friend in The City. They saw the same Nazareth Tonight sign, had the same "Wow, not dead ? We better see them tonight" reaction we did, and called their friend to get the OK to keep the bike out very late.

Lots of bands I didn't see/can't see now..... just glad we happened to drive by that old dance-hall that day......

Carpe Diem.

Rgds, D.
 
   / The day the music died. #1,084  
Wife and I were on a day trip in Central Ontario something like 10-15 years ago, ........

Carpe Diem.

Rgds, D.

Great story! and good on you. Another of those bands where I sadly say "Wish I would have seen them live".
 
   / The day the music died. #1,085  
My mother in-law is 82 and still goes down to the basement and back up. We ask her not to, but she does. Always holds the rail and goes slow. Her late husband passed away 2 years ago at age 93. He had a race track set up in the basement. It was made of old carpet scraps, and on crummy days, he'd go down there and walk a couple hundred laps! :oops:

That stopped around the last 6 months of his life. He was always active. The epitome of use it or lose it. Well, he always used it. (y)
My mother is 85, walks with a cane, yet still insists on going down in the cellar regularly. My grandfather had the house built in 1927 and the stairs are narrow, steep with short treads. As you said she uses the railing but I still don't like it. After my father passed away in 2018 we (finally) convinced her to move the washing machine from the cellar to the first floor, but she still finds reasons to go up and down those :censored: stairs.
 
   / The day the music died. #1,087  
My mother is 85, walks with a cane, yet still insists on going down in the cellar regularly. My grandfather had the house built in 1927 and the stairs are narrow, steep with short treads. As you said she uses the railing but I still don't like it. After my father passed away in 2018 we (finally) convinced her to move the washing machine from the cellar to the first floor, but she still finds reasons to go up and down those :censored: stairs.
Just last spring I converted a closet in the 1st floor spare bedroom to a laundry room for my mother in-law's house. She said she didn't want it and wanted to keep using the basement laundry.... until she got it. Now she likes it. She's had a liver transplant and two hip replacements, and gets winded walking to the bathroom. Yet she still goes down in the basement to look at stuff. We got her a life alert with fall detection.
 
   / The day the music died. #1,088  
Just last spring I converted a closet in the 1st floor spare bedroom to a laundry room for my mother in-law's house. She said she didn't want it and wanted to keep using the basement laundry.... until she got it. Now she likes it. She's had a liver transplant and two hip replacements, and gets winded walking to the bathroom. Yet she still goes down in the basement to look at stuff. We got her a life alert with fall detection.
My mother carries a phone with a button which will call 911... yet if she falls and can't reach it she is SOL. I've asked her to set up with somebody so that she calls them every day but she doesn't think it's necessary. I tore out a closet in the house where the washer/dryer were to go. She originally planned to get a stacking unit but what she has still works so why bother? I'm not sure that having a dryer up top is a good idea anyways considering her age.

She also has been diabetic for 20+ years yet has managed it strictly by controlling her diet.

Screw the door shut. ;)

Believe me, I've threatened to. She only listens to my older brother and sister though, so I would have to sell them on it first.
 
   / The day the music died. #1,089  
My mother carries a phone with a button which will call 911... yet if she falls and can't reach it she is SOL. I've asked her to set up with somebody so that she calls them every day but she doesn't think it's necessary. I tore out a closet in the house where the washer/dryer were to go. She originally planned to get a stacking unit but what she has still works so why bother? I'm not sure that having a dryer up top is a good idea anyways considering her age.

She also has been diabetic for 20+ years yet has managed it strictly by controlling her diet.



Believe me, I've threatened to. She only listens to my older brother and sister though, so I would have to sell them on it first.
My buddy went through this basement stairs thing with his parents... luckily nobody got hurt before they passed.
Hopefully it works out okay for your Mom as well.
 
 
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