CHAIN OF EVENTS 

Jane Scoggins 

  When Sophie tripped on the pavement and badly cut her knee there seemed to be a lot of blood and before she knew it some kind person had phoned for an ambulance. Several people gathered and all showed concern. More than one person mentioned suing the council in case it had been caused by a loose paving stone or something like that. The young paramedic that arrived in the ambulance car soon confirmed there were no broken bones and although the gash on her knee was nasty it did not warrant stitches. Sophie remained calm and lucid and confirmed that she had not banged her head in the fall. A trip to the hospital was thus averted. The paramedic cleaned the wounded knee put on a couple of steristrips and a large plaster and escorted Sophie to her flat fifty yards away. When her daughter called in after work Sophie made light of the whole thing.

  She enjoyed her activities, in particular the various U3A meetings on different subjects. The gardening club was one of her favourites as she had a wealth of knowledge about plants having gardened for many years. When the children were young she and her husband had also had an allotment and had grown prize winning onions and carrots amongst other things. Although she now lived in a ground floor flat she still took pride in growing things in large terracotta pots on the sunny patio outside her back door. Despite a sore knee the day after the fall Sophie was not deterred from getting on the bus to join another group of like minded people for a talk on local history. She took some photographs of her own to share with the group. Most days she was up and off doing something. Sophie prided herself on keeping her mind and body active. She was becoming less interested in national news but continued to take a newspaper so she could do the crossword. Determined not to let herself sink into complacent old age Sophie continued to look out for even more activities she could join. Most recently it had been a writing group at the library.

 Sophie's daughter Ann was concerned that her Mum was taking on too much and regularly told her mother so in a kindly way that she should slow down as all this activity was tiring her. More than a few times she had called in at 6pm on her way home and found her Mum fast asleep in a chair with something cooking on the hob or the oven on, and a slight smell of burning. But Sophie always rallied and dismissed her daughter's concerns with a wave of her hand saying ''I just closed my eyes for a few minutes that’s all''

      When Sophie took a tumble the next time it was a bit more serious. She had slipped on the wet pavement on the way to the corner shop to get some milk. She was not badly hurt, just a bit of a twisted ankle, which prevented her from getting up unaided. She knew someone would come along soon so she waited. When someone did come along they very kindly helped her to her feet but realising she could not easily weight bare and she was cold and wet, called for an ambulance. This time the paramedics took Sophie to A&E for a check up. She agreed for the nurse to look in her handbag for her daughter's telephone number so she could be contacted. As a result of the medical assessment, Sophie stayed overnight.

   Ann answered the nurse's questions fully whilst her Mum dozed. In the morning Sophie was disorientated and it was agreed that there should be more investigations before being discharged.

    When Sophie was discharged she was told she needed to rest and for the time being not go back to her many activities straight away. Although disappointed she accepted she was not ready. She felt tired all of a sudden and agreed that maybe she had been overdoing it.

     When Sophie had slipped on the wet pavement on the way to the shop, she had actually been a quarter of a mile away in the other direction. It had been dark, 10pm, and she had on her dressing gown and slippers. Ann told the Drs at the hospital that her Mum had been losing her memory for some time but seemed able to function day to day and loved going to all her clubs and activities. So much so that she had neglected the terracotta pots and they were full of weeds.

 

  When Ann contacted the various people from the U3A she found that they were quite relieved. Apparently, Sophie had been going downhill for some time but they hadn’t wanted to say as she so loved joining in. Truth be told she had repeated the same story about her childhood in the history group at every meeting even though the meetings were about something completely different.

The gardening group reported that Sophie had gradually forgotten most of the names for the garden plants and in trying to retrieve useful information often resorted to saying things like ''Probably time to put in onion seeds now'' or  '' I must cut back my dahlias this week'' 

    Ann had also noticed that her Mum was forgetful but she was so good at covering her tracks that initially she didn’t worry too much. She had noticed though that when she glanced at her Mum’s newspaper, the crossword although filled in and looked impressive, the answers did not fit the questions, they were just words that fitted the spaces.

  The writing group had been very sweet. They said that Sophie often got the time wrong and arrived before the start or halfway through. When reminded she had always had a good excuse like the bus was late or a friend had kept her chatting. When asked if she had written anything, the answer had been no, not yet, but she had brought along a book of poems she liked written by her father. The poems were actually by Keats, but no one said anything. She was such a charming woman and loved to sit and listen to the writers reading out their stories. Most weeks she seemed to think that at least two of the group were new since the last meeting, and asked to be introduced again. Quite often she would doze off for a few minutes at a time and wake smiling and bemused.

  Sophie now enjoys her trips to daycare but continues to believe it is the U3A. Ann replaced the weeds in the terracotta pots, but one day saw that they had been uprooted and put in the bin. Her mum said proudly that she had done the weeding and would be planting carrots this year. She now enjoys watering the pots and tending the weeds that have resumed ownership.

 

 Copyright Jane Scoggins