The Fall

Notes from an elder care crisis

Portrait of an Old Man, Eduard von Gebhardt, 1913

Two months ago, my octogenarian father fell.

The old people fall. We all fall, but when old people drop a trap door opens. A broken hip can mean a broken life. We’ve been through it twice now with dad. This time, he’s five years older. Five years deeper into ill health, five more years of smoking, stress, and sadness.