Speaking of Feet

I have a number of things to say about feet.

First, you have only two. This is important to know because if one is out of commission you won't be going far.

Second, to the right are nine feet. They belong to my five grandchildren. The parents prefer their photographs not be published on the Web. We compromised on their feet.

From left to right: Bruden who likes plaid shorts with tie-dye T's...worn together, Sidney who has very long blond hair with ringlets around her face; Annette has green legs and feet; Hazel looks like a child in an English storybook, and JD is tall, handsome and athletic.  All grandparents think their grandchildren are darling and talented. However, mine truly are and it's a burden I try to bear graciously.                                                 

Third, feet are important to our quality of life and our safety, but especially for the recently divorced senior citizen. [I don't like the label, senior, even a little. If you remember from the post What's in a Name, I've struggled with the appropriate nomenclature and have decided that there is none. I will go with senior citizen simply because common usage has given it a common meaning, mostly. And, I can't come with anything better.]

My mother was in Central Park going to Tavern on the Green when a cyclist hit her.When the Park emergency personnel arrived, she recalls one of them shouting into his radio, "Senior down! Senior down!" She was bemused at the time though not so much about her broken shoulder later.

Returning to feet.

Fourth, mobility facilitates well-being. At this point in your new life, the last person you want to be shut in with is yourself. You're too tired, angry, frightened and confused about most everything right now to make you fit company for anyone, especially for someone as fragile as yourself.

Mobility is right up there with money in sustaining our sense of well-being. But if there is not much money, then mobility becomes more important to us. Therefore, we must be careful of our feet, lest they turn on us. I put foot care right up there with car maintenance in terms of insuring my sense of well-being, which is directly related to my ability to move around at will. Being immobile during this time of adjustment is tantamount to being trapped and many of us have been trapped for too long. We don't need additional practice.

Early in my new life, I moved around in a stupor of distraction coupled with emotional and physical fatigue. I  have hurt myself by a series of small accidents that resulted in cuts, strains, bruises, and one broken bone. I never fell, but that was dumb luck.

The bone was my third toe, crushed when I dropped a 18" square ceramic tile on it. I had long, slender feet. Now I have one long, slender foot. The other one has a hobbit toe. That incident got my attention and the hobbit toe keeps it.

A Simple Foot Care Regime.

My goal is not aesthetics. My goal is to remain mobile. 

1. I look at my feet daily. A physician recently told me he had no idea what his third toe looked like. Maybe you don't either, but you should. Really look at your feet and do it several times a week. Many foot problems can be solved earlier and more economically should you recognize changes that are out of the ordinary.
2. Remember that your feet have bottoms and heels
3. Stretch and massage your feet each morning and evening getting out and into bed. This is a self-massage I try to do once a week.
4. Set the alarm on your work computer to signal hour or hour and half increments and rotate your feet and flex them several times. The stronger the feet the better the balance.
5. Pay attention. Lots of us stumble and fall and walk into things because we aren't looking or we are rushing about.
6. Use your common sense, and yes, you still have some left.
7. Shoes. Words fail me. They come from the dark side so I avoid the places where beautiful shoes are sold. It is impossible to build an beautiful shoe that will not cripple, maim, or cause intractable pain to the feet by contorting them into shapes that are beyond normal foot functions. If you're done with reproducing the species, your work is over. From now on you can buy comfortable shoes that fit.

When you live with someone, theoretically, he or she will call 911 if you sprain your ankle and can't get out of the tub. If you live alone and it happens, you'll be sittin' in that tub till the water gets cold...or worse.

Take care of your feet and don't fall.