Seven weeks ago today, my father had his hip replaced.
He did great at the hospital, so great they sent him home on the third day. Then the troubles began. He was up a lot at night. He was down during the day. He just wasn’t himself.
Dr. Helen was on top of things, taking notes and discussing matters in great detail with the nurses and therapists who visited from Androscoggin Home Health Care. I met several of Daddio’s caregivers and they were top-notch.
Little by little, things got better for Herman. He graduated from the walker to a cane and he started taking jaunts up the street. Pretty soon, he was able to walk around the block and even stop at Uncle Bob’s. Sit on the porch. He went to the grocery store with Dr. Helen and lately, he’s been driving.
When, though, was Herman going to stop wearing exercise clothes? That’s what I wanted to know. Every time I would visit, he’d be wearing either sweatpants or workout pants. I asked my mother about it and she explained how Herman had to do exercises three times a day and it just made more sense for him to stay in his “fitness outfits.”
I didn’t like it.
I know we live in a casual age. In my trips around town, I do see men and women traipsing around in their pajamas. That’s their business and although I don’t care for this level of casualness, who am I to intervene? It’s just that I hold my father up to a higher standard.
Fortunately, he seems to have made it over the last hurdle in his recovery. The fashion hurdle.
Herman and Helen stopped by Sunday afternoon; they’d been to church and out to lunch. They were in a hurry, though. The New England Patriots were playing at 1:00 p.m. and Herman didn’t want to miss the kick off.
Full recovery!
Julie-Ann Baumer 
Good for him! And his hard working medical support staff, too!
And the Pats, too.
Thank you, LP!
Clothes are a uniform of sorts.
We both remember our years growing up, when uniforms seemed more important, at least in defining who people were. Perhaps, when America was still a place where things were made, uniforms were more important. Now, with keystrokes moving information around the globe and face-to-face holding less sway that it once did, pajamas seem appropriate.
I do find myself lately enjoying classic movies and in particular, the dress and style of the 1940s and even the 1950s. Men wore suits, women dresses, hats were donned by everyone. There was some sense of style, or so it seemed. Granted, some postmodern deconstructionist surely will tell me that I’m wrong and that Facebook will now tell us what to wear each and every day. I probably just committed some faux pas and uttered something politically incorrect.
Jim,
I can certainly identify with a longing for a certain “decorum” in attire and personal presentation. From my readings about cinema, apparently, the male actors were often responsible for their own “costumes” when they were making movies. Thank goodness Cary Grant didn’t show up in his jammies.
At least the said pants didn’t have “Helen’s Guy” or some other fun sentiment across the backside. I have seen worse.
Wow…that would be both horrible and hilarious. We’ll keep it to a word picture!