Sasquatch and the grab bars
By Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
Updated Mon August 17, 2015
Last week, while vacationing at the Cape, I helped mom clean out and organize her storage shed.
This is not as altruistic as it might sound. The more Stuff (and it is Stuff) I can encourage mom to get rid of now, the less I have to deal with when she shuffles off her mortal coil.
I'm practical that way.
I'm also happy to report improvements in, uh, aging-in-place for dear old dad.
You may recall, in January, I posited here that my parents had yet to install grab bars, and that dad was resisting the cane.
There are now three grab bars in the bathroom (1 pretty and shiny which they hang washcloths from, 2 your basic ugly white). There is also a very pretty new railing on the back deck.
I believe all of this work was done by the mysterious Junior (Jr.?). Junior is like the Cape Cod version of Sasquatch. He's rumored to exist, but I've never actually laid eyes on him. He's an all around handyman for my parents. This winter, to their delight, he added snowplowing to his menu. They wouldn't divulge his information to the handful of other year rounders in the 'hood hinting at wanting to hire him.
Fun fact: snowplow companies in the area were charging $200 a pop to plow.
Dad has also acquired a quad cane, which he doesn't use around the house, but will take elsewhere. At home, he likes to leave it in the middle of the floor. Oh, the irony if one of them trips over it.
All in all, it was a great week. Beaches, margaritas, a hot tub and even a movie (Rikki and the Flash.)
I did have one senior moment myself. I had in one hand my vitamin D and Synthroid; in the other, I had the cap to a syringe. Guess which one I accidentally threw out? Yup. The meds, and I didn't have extra in my handy 7-day pill thingy. Which is probably just as well. I came home on schedule (if you know the Cape, you'll know I left at 7 am), when I might otherwise have been tempted to tell editor Liz I was staying longer.
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