The other day, I posted about the day my Grandma broke her leg at the beach.
Today, it's fictionalized as Cathy's experience.
Most of the time, Cathy and her family went to one of the town’s bay beaches when they wanted to cool off during the summer months. It was there that Cathy’s daddy taught her to swim. When he began to teach her, he stretched his arms out across the water to support Cathy’s little body. First, he taught her to kick, moving in a slow circle to give her the impression she was swimming. Later, he showed her how to do use her arms. One day, he let his arms fall and Cathy was delighted to find herself moving effortlessly through the bay. Daddy tried to teach Mikey in the same way but her little brother was only interested in doggie-paddling.
Sometimes the family would go to a larger beach park. That involved a bit more planning. They would bring the same blanket, towels and cooler but they’d have to spend more time in the car. They would cross a bridge to get to Captree State Park. They’d trek their stuff from the car across the parking lot and down to the beach. They would have their lunch there and soon after, would shower and then make the trek back to the car.
There was another beach that Cathy loved and they would go there once a month or so. This involved even more steps. First, they’d drive their stuff to the Captree parking lot. Instead of hauling it all to the beach, they’d go to the ferry. That was one of the parts Cathy loved most of all. She and Mikey would have so much fun! While Mama and Daddy sat nearby watching them, the little ones would chase each other on the deck. Sometimes Mama and Daddy would hold their hands and go up to the railing to look out at the water.
The bay usually rippled with just small waves. There were sailboats and motor boats to watch and puffy white clouds at which to look up and see. Sometimes there were crying seagulls overhead and, when Cathy saw other passengers throwing bread up to the birds, Mama began to bring crusts for the children to throw too. Most of them landed on the water instead of going very far into the air but it was fun to watch the birds dive bomb the bits of bread.
Once they arrived at Fire Island, there was another long trek to the beach. This time, instead of the bay, they would be visiting the Atlantic Ocean! The ocean was as big as the sky and the waves were bigger and rougher. Cathy and Mikey weren’t allowed to go into the ocean. Mama and Daddy would go wading with them, holding hands. Cathy could feel the water tugging her little legs, wanting to pull her far out. When Mama and Daddy wanted to swim or to rest, Cathy and Mikey were only allowed on the packed sand.
When they were on the packed sand, waves would wash up over their toes and feet. Sometimes a bigger wave would come along and they would play tag with the ocean. If they were able to get onto the soft sand before the wave covered their feet, they won. But if the wave caught them and ran up to their ankles, they lost. They never tired of that game.
When they went to Fire Island, they would stay until late in the afternoon. Daddy would get a huge beach umbrella to provide shade during the sunniest hours of the day. After lunch, Mama made Cathy and Mikey put shirts on over their bathing suits. She smeared smelly stuff all over them and explained it would keep the sun from burning them. When they weren’t playing with the ocean, Mama had them sit on the shaded part of the blanket. She and Daddy didn’t hide from the sun and smeared that stinky stuff over each other.
Whenever they asked Grandma if she’d like to come with them to Fire Island, she was always busy. One special day, though, she said yes. When they picked her up, Mama didn’t seem happy. Cathy wondered why Grandma was wearing her favorite blue spotted dress instead of a bathing suit. Mama kept pointing to Grandma’s feet, shaking her head.
“No, I’ll be fine,” Grandma said, mouthing each word carefully. She was wearing what Cathy called “grandma shoes”: chunky black shoes with little heels. They weren’t beach sandals like everyone else wore. When Mama saw she wasn’t getting anywhere with the shoes, she shrugged and they all got into the car.
Mama and Daddy signed to each other in the front seat while Cathy and Mikey sat on either side of Grandma, chattering happily. In not time, they’d arrived at Captree. It was the fastest trip Cathy could remember! Grandma helped carry some of their stuff over to the ferry.
Grandma stood at the ferry’s rail for almost the whole trip. Cathy stood with her; Mama, Daddy and Mikey grew tired of it and sat down on a bench to relax. Cathy was just tall enough to see through the space between two of the rails. Grandma said, “The bridge will be open soon.”
Cathy looked at the bridge. It looked pretty tall, taller than the Captree Bridge.
“When it opens, they’ll close the ferry, I suppose,” Grandma added with a sigh.
“Why?” Cathy wrinkled her nose and eyebrows. Close the ferry? But it was so much fun!
“Yes, people will want to drive their cars over the bridge. They won’t want to ride the ferry anymore.”
Cathy heard the sadness in Grandma’s voice. “But I will,” she declared. “Maybe you and I can ride it and they’ll keep it open.”
Grandma smiled but didn’t answer. She patted Cathy’s head instead.
After the challenge of hauling all their stuff to the beach, the next step was to find “the perfect spot.” Cathy and Mikey danced with impatience, wanting to hurry up and go play tag with the ocean. Finally, the grown-ups settled on a place for the blanket and cooler. Daddy went off to get an umbrella while Mama opened a folding chair for Grandma. The children kicked their sandals off and ran down to the packed sand, ready to race the waves.
They’d won against the waves a couple of times, giggling uncontrollably as they ran back and forth. Cathy heard Mama’s voice calling out, “Mom, mom!” She looked toward the blanket and saw Grandma carefully making her way toward them. Mama had started to follow, still calling to Grandma.
“I wanted to see what the fun is all about!” Grandma said loudly, although Cathy knew Mama couldn’t hear it.
She and Mikey turned and rushed back to the packed sand, getting ready to outrace another one. The swell was rising and Cathy saw it would be a big one. “Come on!” she called to Mikey, about-facing and running back toward dry sand. She could hear Mikey running behind, and they passed Grandma just ahead of the wave.
Mama screamed.
Cathy froze. Mama’s eyes were bulging but in fear, not anger.
“Oh, my goodness!” Grandma exclaimed.
Cathy turned and was shocked to see Grandma sitting down. Her leg looked funny and Cathy froze. Mama ran past her and Mikey and fell to her knees beside Grandma. Cathy realized Grandma’s leg was bending the wrong way. Something was sticking up, just below Grandma’s knee. It looked like raw chicken before Mama cooked it.
“Granma, Granma!” Mikey cried, tears of fright streaming down his face.
Mama jumped up and began to run toward the lifeguard, waving her arms and crying out. The lifeguard looked down at her from his perch, puzzled.
Cathy broke out of her deep freeze as she realized the lifeguard couldn’t understand Mama. She began to run toward the lifeguard too, crying out, “Help, help, my Grandma’s hurt!”
The lifeguard immediately jumped down. He’d seen Grandma and ran past Mama and Cathy. Mama turned immediately; Cathy did too, but reluctantly. She was afraid of what she saw on Grandma’s leg. She could hear Grandma beginning to moan, “Oh, what have I done? Just look at my leg.”
The lifeguard knelt beside Grandma, speaking to her softly and looking at her leg. He stood up and began signaling with his arms. Cathy turned to see where the lifeguard was signaling and saw Daddy drop the umbrella he was carrying and race toward them.
“We have to get her to the emergency room,” the lifeguard was saying.
Mama shook her head, not understanding.
“She can’t hear you,” Cathy told him, trembling now. She turned to her mother and mouthed slowly “Go hospital.”
Mama nodded and Daddy arrived at her side, wide-eyed. The guard frowned and turned to Cathy. “Who’s going to go with your grandmother? Someone has to ride in the ambulance.”
Through gestures and mouthing some of the words, Cathy put the question to her parents. Mama was already shaking her head ‘no’ and signing to Daddy. Daddy stepped up and said, “I will go. I will talk to doctor.” Daddy could hear a little bit and his speech was better than Mama’s.
Now more lifeguards arrived. Two carried a stretcher and one a medical bag. Mikey began weeping loudly. “What’s wrong with Grandma?”
“She’ll be OK,” the one with the medical bag said. “She broke her leg, that’s all.” To the other guards, he said: “Compound Fracture. She’s in shock.”
Even though it was a hot day, one of the guards picked up a blanket from the stretcher and covered Grandma. The waves had begun to creep closer and closer more often and another guard advised, “Better get her out of here before she gets wet.”
Now that Grandma was covered, Cathy could look at her and asked in a shaky voice, “Are you okay, Grandma?”
Grandma just kept saying, “What have I done? What have I done?”
The men gently lifted her and put her on the stretcher. The blanket had fallen and one stooped to retrieve it and cover her again. Two carried the stretcher and began to move away swiftly.
Daddy was signing something to Mama, who was nodding. Daddy turned away and hurried after the stretcher.
The other two guards remained behind to help Mama and the children pack up their stuff. Mikey had stopped crying hard and was sniffling as he and Cathy carried off all their beach toys. The guards helped Mama carry everything else, right onto the ferry. “I’ll call so some of the guys at Captree can help you get everything to the car,” one said to Mama as they left the ferry.
Mama nodded and when they were off the ferry, she turned to Cathy and asked, “What did they say?” This happened a lot. Mama and Daddy often would smile and nod and then, later, ask Cathy what “they” said. If it was really important to know right away, Cathy could give her parents the message on the spot.
Cathy mouthed “More help there.” This was a time she wished she could sign too.
Mama was too restless to sit on the ferry’s bench. She paced the deck while Cathy and Mikey sat quietly subdued. When Mama went to the rail, Cathy and Mikey joined her. Mikey tapped Mama and said, “Grandma?”
Mama pointed and the children looked. There was the bridge that wasn’t open yet. A white vehicle was just cresting the top. Cathy recognized it as the big car that took sick people to the hospital. Daddy and Grandma were in it and the bridge wasn’t even open yet. They would be the first regular people to go over that bridge. Wow, Cathy thought.
As promised, there were a couple of lifeguards waiting for them when the ferry arrived back at Captree. They helped Mama get everything to the car. Mama smiled a little and said thank you as they closed up the trunk. Mama gestured for the children to get into the car.
“Hospital?” Cathy asked.
“Uncle Bill’s,” Mama answered, her face as white as milk. When Cathy frowned, puzzled, Mama added that Uncle Bill would need to go to the hospital with Grandma’s insurance information. Daddy would need help talking to the doctors too.
Cathy enjoyed visiting Uncle Bill and Aunt Ruth. They were her godparents. They had adopted two children, younger than she and Mikey. Uncle Bill raised Great Danes. He always had a couple of them and when they had puppies, he’d give them away. Cathy had asked her mother for a puppy once but Mama said no and shuddered. Too big, she’d said.
Mama, Uncle Bill and Aunt Ruth went right into the kitchen and began writing to each other on a pad of paper. Mama didn’t try to talk to Uncle Bill because she said he was too hard to lipread; he didn’t move his mouth much. Aunt Ruth was much easier to understand but this was an emergency and so they needed to write.
“What happened?” little Susie asked. She was about 4 or 5. Mark was even younger.
“Our Grandma broke her leg,” Cathy answered solemnly. She felt important to be the conveyer of such important news.
Susie was properly impressed. They all went in the backyard to romp with the two Great Danes. They were as big as horses in Cathy’s eyes but very gentle and playful.
They’d been playing a long time when they heard car doors slam. “Daddy!” Susie cried, running back to the house. The children piled inside the kitchen to find Uncle Bill and Cathy’s daddy just arriving. The grownups sat down in the kitchen, each couple conversing to the other. Mama and Daddy were signing fast, and Uncle Bill was telling Aunt Ruth what had happened at the hospital.
Cathy listened to Uncle Bill. Grandma had badly broken her leg. The raw chicken thing Cathy had seen was bone and tissue. She felt sick. Grandma had to have a cast and would be in the hospital for a week. When she came home, she wouldn’t be able to walk around and would need help with everything.
Grandpa wouldn’t be able to help because his health was failing, Uncle Bill added. Cathy remembered that Grandpa only seemed to move from his bed to his rocker nowadays. He would leave his hearing aids off and didn’t mind that he couldn’t hear anything without them. Grandma had to give him a shot of insulin a few times a day.
Who would take care of Grandma?
