Good Bones

Until recently I believed that good bones run in our family.  At almost 5’10’ with a “sturdy” build, I was pretty sure I’m made of good stuff.  I take after my Mom’s side of the family which comes from strong Dutch and Russian genes, farmers, hard workers.  And besides, I’ve eaten my weight in cheese in my life.  Surely that’s enough.

Our family had a wake-up call recently when we discovered, quite accidentally, that our Mom has severe osteoporosis. Why this was not diagnosed sooner is beyond me.  After 5 fractures and multiple falls, none of us clued in.  Maybe it’s because she is now in a wheelchair and the family didn’t notice she had shrunk from her full adult height of 5’7″ to 5″2″. I just thought she was looking even more adorable as time passed, and that her diminutive stature was a natural consequence of aging.