Ouch!

A busy day yesterday. Started out bright and early baking a coffee cake for the ol' office. Hadn't been up there in many months and was feeling the need to check-in. I had a great visit. Then an excellent workout and a long sauna. Followed by a visit to my friend John Chapman at his shop - he's got a picture framing biz downtown.

I was feeling mighty pleased with the course of the day so far and rolled on up to Auntie's to see if her car battery had charged over night. I had plugged the charger in the day before. Auntie tottered down to the garage to observe the proceedings. I unplugged the charger and disconnected the leads from the battery. Then I slammed the hood shut. As is often the case with hoods, it did not close all the way. So I whupped down on it with both hands and my full body weight.

YELP!

It seems that between the time of the first slam and the subsequent whuppage, Auntie had inserted the middle finger of her right hand into the space between the hood and the body of the car. Oh shit!

I ran around to get in the car to unlatch the hood. YIKES! That's one bloody finger. So...off to the ER.

Auntie is not one known for her stoicism as far as discomfort is concerned, so I was inclined to believe her when she said the finger didn't hurt that bad. Don't know why. The finger certainly had every right to be indignant.

Fortunately, the ER was quiet and we were ushered into a room immediately and Emilie received the full attention of a doc, a couple of nurses, and an X-ray technician. She seemed to actually enjoy the attention and the experience and said as much - although I'm sure she was, at least in part, trying to make me feel better as the slammer of the offending hood.

I am NOT in the habit of slamming my elders' appendages in car hoods or anything else - and the medicos apparently reached the same conclusion after a number of questions regarding her family and living arrangements.

The ER staff were treated to a command performance on the history of the Lindstrom family and pets - both living and long deceased. Don't think Auntie stopped talking long enough to take a full breath from the moment we arrived until our departure an hour and a half or so later. And even she admitted at one point that she tended to run-on a bit when she was nervous - although she really didn't look that nervous to me. There were many appreciative chuckles and smiles and much amused shaking of heads by the hospital staff.

Some of the amusement was no doubt attributable to Auntie's somewhat peculiar appearance. Emilie takes a LOT of time to prepare herself for a sortie into the wider world. Lots of make-up. And she can look quite fetching for her years when she is in full regalia. However yesterday's unplanned trip to the ER did not lend itself to a lot of prep work. So she was missing a few things - like lipstick. Oh yeah, and eyebrows. And her wig was kinda floating on top of her head - held in place only by her trademark furry earmuffs.

At any rate, the finger required seven stitches and I got her home around 4 PM.

I picked her up late this afternoon and she came out to the folks' for pork roast. Her finger is still a tad swollen; but it looks like it's doing fine. She ate like a longshoreman. And on the way home tonight she mentioned again how much she enjoyed our trip to the ER.

An amazing woman...