Now playing senior version of Clue

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My family has always enjoyed playing games of all types. Of course, after I grew up and then as my child got older, we stopped playing games like Chutes and Ladders or Candyland. I was actually grateful when we got a little tired of Monopoly. But some games have endured for my entire life. Clue is one of those, although these days, I’m playing a slightly different version of Clue. Let me explain.

Many of you will recall that around the first of August, I had a tiny little biking accident which left me with a broken bone or two in my foot. The rest of that month I spent wearing one of those large, clompy boots to insure my foot would heal well. I did get pretty good at getting around in it, especially since I had a smaller, lighter boot in which I could drive.

I followed all the doctor’s orders and by early September, I was able to wear real shoes. The doctor, however, said absolutely no flip-flops or bare feet, even around the house. Fortunately, I found a pair of lightweight, summer shoes that were comfortable and gave me support. They are also hideous, but at a certain age we prefer function over style.

So for a couple of weeks, my body adjusted to not wearing the heavy boot and to walking normally. I even began to go up and down stairs just like a youngster. Well, like I had in July, anyway. Then one night, I was working a jigsaw puzzle and after about an hour, I stood up. Pain shot through my knee and I limped to the kitchen to complain to Matt about this new development.

I knew from an injury I had in 2011 that you can fall on your knee and the cartilage could take weeks to break down. I feared this is what had happened. Not wanting a repeat of that horrible experience, I began popping glucosamine like M&Ms and elevated my knee, placing an ice pack on it.

It seemed to get a little better, but then that night in bed, I raised my knee up under the covers and a rocket of pain launched from my knee up to my hip. My dear husband (who is very knowledgeable about muscles) calmly said, “Oh, you’ve strained your quadriceps.”

Seriously? I strained a major muscle in my leg by … standing up? This is ridiculous! But, it turns out, he was absolutely correct. With some muscle cream and a heating pad, I got that bad muscle back in shape in two days.

I didn’t even know what a quadriceps was until this happened, so I guess you actually do learn something new every day. I am somewhat dismayed that merely standing up can cause an injury. But I believe that’s the senior edition of Clue.

It’s not about who killed Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with which weapon. It’s all about what body part will malfunction next. And when. Do you play this game, too?

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By Sue Curtis

Guest columnist

Sue is a retired public servant who volunteers at the Hospice store (For All Seasons) in Troy and teaches part-time at Urbana University. Email her at [email protected].

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