Scooter

About 2 months ago, my father-in-law (from this point known as FIL) ran over my mother-in-law (MIL) with his scooter. He has a scooter because when he enlisted into the army way back when, he was injured. He broke his ankle and to fix it the army screwed it back together with plates and screws. He broke it, not in combat, but in the obstacle course. And I believe there was alcohol involved. Think whatever you want, them's the facts.

So the VA gives him a scooter, as a walker wouldn't help him when his ankle gave out. He's scooting around on it. Crossing four lanes of traffic to go to the grocery store for scratch-offs and other necessary items. Running over people's toes in the hallways. We joke that he should get a side car for my MIL to ride in. He was pretty good with it. He did leave some marks on the walls of their apartment, backing it in and out. But overall he was ok. Until the "incident". They were either coming back from or heading down to the laundry facility in their building. They were either coming out of or going into the elevator. The details are a little fuzzy. But the jist of the story is that he ran into her causing her to fall down and hit her head. When he tells the story, he says that he can still hear her screaming. Interestingly though, he doesn't take responsibility for the hit. It is now the VA's fault for giving him the scooter in the first place. It is interesting how the mind works as we get older!

MIL ends up in the hospital and from there rehab at a nursing home. For a month. Each day we wake to find my FIL, dressed and sitting up in a chair, in the dark, in the living room where he has been since 4am, waiting to be taken to the nursing home. There he spends the day with is wife. Sitting by her side and helping her eat her meals. By helping, I mean eating what she does not want to. That man will eat whatever you put in front of him. It's amazing. He's like a bottomless pit.

After a month in rehab, she comes home to our house. He is happy, she is finally with him. We are happy(?). It has certainly cut down on our daily running around. But now they are in our house. And that presents it's own set of problems.