MOTHER'S DAY, 1950
It was Mother's Day, 1950. I was 20 months old and certainly old enough to give my mother a special Mother's Day gift. My parents and I lived in an upper flat in Detroit and the only means of entrance and exit was by an outside staircase.
All on my own I came up with this gift for my mother. I worked on it the afternoon before Mother's Day. Quite a gift, wouldn't you say?
Yes, that is a full body cast - the result of slipping on the bedroom floor the afternoon before Mother's Day and the accomplishment of doing the splits. My poor mother didn't know what had happened and certainly didn't realize the magnitude of the injury. She has told me that I cried so terribly that she called my father home from work and together they took me to Saratoga Hospital in Detroit.
There I was found to have a broken left leg. There was an orthopedic surgeon at the hospital at the time and he performed a closed reduction of the left femur and set the leg with the full body cast.
This was quite a chore for my petite mother to carry me up and down the stairs for the months it took to heal. I had just been learning to walk and had to learn that all over again.
Fast forward to 1981 and I was now employed at Saratoga Hospital as the Medical Staff Coordinator. Imagine my surprise to see the same orthopedic surgeon, Clarence Maguire, M.D., still on the staff near 30 years since he set my broken leg. No, I didn't remember him; I just knew his name from my mother's tale! He was near retirement and thoroughly enjoyed hearing how he had been the surgeon to take care of me on Mother's Day in 1950. I showed him the photo and he chuckled and remarked that casts like that were certainly not used any longer.
Recently, the 5 year old daughter of one of my goddaughters had the misfortune of breaking her leg after a fall off her bike. She had a much smaller and prettier bright purple cast on her leg. I showed her this photo of my broken leg and her only question was how I went to the bathroom with that cast on!
Good question!
I will say that in the years after that Mother's Day I did manage to gift my mother much more appropriate and loving gifts though she would often remind me of the Mother's Day in 1950.
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