So much red

Today I arrived at the home of a friend who is in her eighties to take her to the beauty salon. When I knocked on the door, she called for me to come in and said, "Watch your step." From there I had to tip-toe around literal pools of blood.

While getting ready, she scraped the top of her foot with her support stocking. Her home looked like a violent crime scene, red splatters and footprints in her living room, kitchen, bedroom, hallway and bathroom from where she tried to get bandages and new socks to stop the bleeding. As I gathered more towels, the fire department arrived after having been notified by her personal alert system. They peeled from her foot a sock so saturated it was no longer recognizable as fabric. They were able to stop the bleeding, but we decided a trip to the emergency room was in order. The firemen helped get her in my car, and we spent the next several hours in the ER for observation and re-bandaging.

While we were in the hospital, more friends came over and cleaned her house. I'm glad she didn't have to go home to an abattoir. I have never seen so much blood in my life ... and from such a tiny wound. Less than an eighth of an inch long, no wider than a cat scratch, and it was everywhere. Blood is really intensely red.

Throughout all of this, she was steadier than most people I know would be in the same situation. When the firemen asked her if she thought she could walk, she said she was a bit light-headed, then laughed, and said,"I'm just a dizzy dame."

Almost 85 years old, weak and bleeding, my friend has definitely got moxie. There might still be time for me.