Falling Friday - We've Fallen and We Can't Get Up

Today, I will attend the wake of an 83 year old woman, my brother in law's mother in law, and, tomorrow, her funeral.

She fell, back in February. She fell in the bathtub and hit her head, beginning a nine month nightmare for her and her family. That nightmare ended earlier this week.  Tomorrow, her family will celebrate her life.  It was a long, active life despite many health issues.

That, in a way, we can understand.  People grow old.  We all will.  For too many of us, falling is part of that process.  We have come to recognize that in the United States, and are trying to work on seeing if it is possible to educate people into being more aware of falls.

We can educate people about vision, about the risk of various medications in relation to falling.

But some things are beyond the scope of my Falling Friday feature.

Next week, a lot of people in the San Bernardino, California area are going to be attending funeral services, while the rest of us in the United States ask, once again, why?  how?  It's almost become "another day, another massacre".

Today, I know people going to a holiday retiree luncheon in their office.  Will they think of San Bernardino when they walk in the door?

Years ago, a series of commercials for a Life Call device ("I've fallen, and I can't get up!") became classics.

What I do know is, after reading some of the posts on my Facebook page this morning (including one from a man who majored in psychology), I feel like our country has fallen, and we can't get up.

And there is no Life Call for us.

This one we have to figure out on our own. I speak as someone who works in a community that had its own mass shooting back in 2009.  We can't hide our heads in the sand any more.  We can't blame Congress, in a way - Congress is the people we elect.  Nor can we just send our thoughts and prayers out to the latest set of victims.

Be more aware of what is happening around you, in the meantime. 

Americans: think carefully.  Act wisely.  But act. We can no longer be paralyzed.   The future of our country depends on it.