Booting Up

Yesterday I put on a shimmery black and pink skirt a friend gave me years ago and I wore it with my black vest and lipstick, and I set out to walk Lily downtown and pick up trash as is my usual routine. The boot was invisible to most but my walking style was not. I was walking SLOW like I was in pain but I was not.
When I got home I did several loads of laundry going up and down the stairs to hang the clothes outside on the line. I vacuumed enthusiastically noticing crumbled ceiling paint on the rug. I had no pain. I wondered who I should tell about my foot. As a child growing up my mother made huge melodramas out of everything medical. She called all of her friends to tell them "I might have cancer!" She even cussed out my best friends parents for not taking me to the emergency room over a leg bruise I got at her sleepover. I hated that. I didn't want to do this to people in my orbit.
I have fulfillment from my writing painting and music so I do not need drama to gain attention or "juice". I have little patience for drama although I love a good story.
I went swimming in the afternoon even though I was tired I knew the water would be good. I met a woman in the locker room I told her I was crazy getting motion sickness from crutches. She told me she has to take motion sickness pills to swim every day. I met another woman recovering from neck and foot surgery. Both women were 15-20 years younger. I have nothing compared to what they are going through, I told myself. My foot was swollen so I took the wooden stool and used it as a walker to carry myself out to the pool. The water was delicious. A woman was singing nursery rhymes in the pool embarrassing her husband. "I love it," I said to her. The other woman was flailing rhythmically to music on her waterproof iphone making a tsunami. No wonder she has motion sickness, I thought. I would too if I did that!