On Sunny Lane: Just a Few Helpful Hints

Who would have thought that the simple act of bending over would become a major issue for me?

Stooping, squatting or kneeling can be painful, too. When a person becomes an octogenarian, though, that scenario can be expected. It wasn’t always this way. I was an agile person in my youth. And I could get around well until a decade or two ago. Now, I need to slow down—whether I want to or not. I have to make a plan to do simple tasks that I once did with no thought at all.

I, however, devised ways to cope with the bending, stooping, squatting, kneeling issues, with a minimum of pain or discomfort.

First of all, I do not throw, place or put anything on the floor that would necessitate me bending, stooping or squatting to pick it up later. If I do drop something on the floor, I try to wait until something else falls from my hands, then pick them both up. This eliminates one bend, stoop or squat.

Also, if there is more than one item on the floor, I scoot one closer to the other with my foot so I don’t need to reach for one or the other. Or, so I don’t need to—heaven forbid!— bend, squat or stoop any more times.

When possible, I use an alternative method for picking things off the floor. I do have a reacher/grabber that I keep in the closet, but it’s not always handy when I have a mishap. (Although, it did come in handy one day last summer when Sweetheart and I needed to remove an uninvited snake from our mudroom floor.)

Sometimes I pick up small items with my toes. This works relatively well if I am barefoot, but I am not always. If I am shod or in my sock feet, I can sometimes put my foot underneath the object and lift it high enough for me to reach it without bending.

I try to keep things I use at an unbendable level, but that is not always practical. Just the other day I thought of how nice it would be if the refrigerator was on cement blocks, so I didn’t have to bend over to get vegetables out of the produce drawer, but I don’t know anyone who would be willing to lift it.

Sometimes I need to do a chore that is on floor level. In that case, I stay down until the job is done. Getting up is just as challenging as getting down, so I don’t want to do either one any more than necessary. Speaking of getting up and down, I hold on to a piece of furniture or other handy item to help me pull or push me to an upright position. I’ve been doing that for years.

Many years ago, the comedian Bob Hope said in one of his monologues, “You know you’re getting old when you bend over to tie your shoe lace and look around to see if there’s anything else you can do while you’re down there.”

So, if you are an octogenarian—or a septuagenarian, or a sextegenarian—I hope these little hints will be helpful for you.

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Dorothy is the author of two books—“Miles and Miracles” and “Getting It All Together “. You can purchase a book or send a comment by emailing her at dorothybutzknight@gmail.com