My Slippers
Dunkirk NY – I have a pair of slippers that, come winter, I wear around the house. My extremities get cold very easily due to a youthful bout with frostbite, and so I have to wear something on my feet other than socks. The thing about this particular pair of slippers is that, for some reason, when I walk around the house, I tend to shuffle my feet rather than picking them up. For some reason, in these slippers, that feels a more natural way to walk. I have to make a conscious effort to lift my feet when I walk, but I usually end up forgetting. The result is that I sound like an 80-year-old man shuffling around the house.
Rehabilitation at this point feels like a preview of getting older. Each morning I get up, put on my slippers, socks, sweatpants, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt. Since I know I am not going anywhere or seeing anyone, I don’t bother to put on regular pants. My day is filled with light activities, such as making coffee, taking out the garbage or recycling, shredding mail, writing, icing the knee. The combination of the shuffling, the appearance, and the activities all feel at this point like the things I’ll probably be doing once I hit 80. When my parents were that age that’s about all they began to do, apart from shopping. My mother, at 90, can do little else, and when I hear myself shuffling it’s almost as if I’m hearing my mother go from her bedroom to the TV to watch Blue Bloods.
It’s not unnerving, but it is, shall we say, revealing. Once this is over I am going to have to remember this feeling so I remain active as long as I can. And perhaps it might be a good idea to get something other than these slippers to wear around the house. -twl