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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Daughter-ometer


If you ever need a Daughter-ometer, I hope you will have one available.

My recovery from the second total knee replacement has been slug-slow, especially compared to the phenomenal bounce back from the first one.  There were weeks that I felt I’d made no progress whatsoever.  What I needed was someone to measure the gains and to cheer me on if warranted.  That someone was daughter Kate who lives in New Jersey and comes to stay every other weekend.  Everyone else sees me too often, and they can’t see any difference in my walking from day to day.  Kate began to comment on how she viewed my mobility.  I am now dependent on her report to know that I have not regressed.  It has been a bolster to my thin veneer of patience.

Niece Chrissie is the Daughter-ometer for her mother.  Over a period of time the two of them discovered that Chrissie sensed from her mother’s voice on the telephone if her mother were having a migraine headache.  In fact, it was such a finely tuned instrument that Chrissie knew before her mother did if a headache were in the offing.  Isn’t that amazing?  Now, if Chris wants to know if she dares to go to a particular function, she’ll dial her Daughter-ometer.  Depending on the voice vibes, Chrissie tells her it’s safe to go or watch out, there is a headache in the offing.

I’ve not read of other Daughter-ometers, but I presume they work under many different circumstances.  In the two mentioned above, one judges the immediate past, and the other is a true forecaster.  I’m certain the accuracy is much, much higher for headaches than for weather forecasting.

Have you ever used a Daughter-ometer or known of one?  Please share if you have.

1 comment:

  1. From BD:
    Interesting. I suffered from migraines from age 12 until I came off hormones following menopause. A dear friend, who was also my boss, could look at me and tell if a migraine had started or was about to. She couldn't quite explain it, but she said there was something about my eyes that told her. I don't think she was ever wrong. When they came out with the self-administered shots and then the pills (Imitrex), I knew to go check and make sure I had medication with me so that I could ward off the worst of it as soon as it started, when Julia alerted me.

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