A Stick Would Help

[poliphilo]

My father-in-law took a tumble yesterday. I was nearby, picking plums in his back yard, and saw it happen. He came striding out of the house, caught his foot on an uneven paving slab and fell full length. I was useless.  All I could think to do was yell for Ailz. While I was standing there trying not to look as if I was panicking the man from next door very quietly popped round and helped Eric to his feet. The damage was minimal.  He'd punctured the skin on the heel of one of his hands. We took him inside, put him in an armchair and I went back to picking plums. Within half an hour he was reminiscing happily. These falls are a regular feature of his life. He could forestall them by using a stick, but he won't because that would be an unmanly admission of failure.