And The Walls, um Nanny, Came Tumbling Down

    I fly a Northern Ireland Antrim flag during March to honor my Irish ancestors. It's hung on two hooks on my front porch. This week I noticed that the flag had come loose on one side and was flapping in the strong wind. I didn't want it to tear and there was no one at home but me so I decided to fix it myself.
    I had enough sense to realize that the wet banister wasn't safe to stand on so I had the bright idea to get a chair. I had just replaced the flag on the hook and wound the bread tie anchor around it when I realized I was falling. Now, what happened on the way down I don't know. I have no memory of any of it.
     The next thing I do remember was hitting the concrete porch flat on my back and whacking my head. I lay there not knowing if I should try to get up or not. Maybe I had broken a bone. I couldn't tell because I wasn't hurting anywhere yet. But it was raining, I was in my nightgown and no one had seen me fall. I knew I couldn't just lie there, I had to get to a phone.
      I managed to get up on my hands and knees and a wave of nausea hit me big time. I stayed in that position until it passed and then somehow got to my feet. I discovered I could still walk, so far so good. I got inside, called my son Jimmy and then lay on the bed. That's when the shock set in and I realized I had probably hurt something inside. My leg was scraped but that was nothing compared to the pain in my side.
     Jimmy got me to the ER and another son, David, came. I had a CAT scan and an MRI and amazingly I was actually alright. They did find a hernia and a really big gall stone but, except for unbelievable soreness, I was going to make it. The next challenge will be how to get rid of the gall stone. More on that later.