First, a Break

^{I was proud to be checking one more thing off this list of worthiness, of things one has to do to live full time in Italy! With my Residenza certificate in hand, I could now register for the Italian health insurance. I was looking for the number on the building. Then, I felt the snap in my left ankle, folding like origami underneath the weight of my body, and down I went, splayed out on the pavement, my neatly organized papers now shuffled around me. I stretched for the papers, tried to get myself up, but immediately understood the futility of walking away from this accident. I had one working leg, my right, and used it to hop to something like a grassy curb with, thank god, a post I could lean myself onto. A quiet part of town, I saw no one around. Everything a bit twinkly around me, the hot Tuscan sun at midday, a kind of whoosh moving between my ears, I couldn’t get oriented. I just knew I felt semi-present in my body, like I might lose consciousness.}

^{A man, mid-50s, appeared from near his truck across the street and began to walk toward me. He asked me, in Italian, “Are you okay? Would you like some water?”}

^{“Si. Grazie. Non mi sento bene.” Yes. Thank you. I don’t feel well. I pointed to my ankle.}

^{I could never have lifted myself from that spot, gotten to my car across the street and driven home. Instead, a savior showed up. He brought me glasses of water in a plastic cup, kept refilling it for me. At one point as he handed me the cup, I leaned on his leg. Then, other men arrived, one around 40 with a young son and another man I don’t exactly recall. They formed a kind of circle of protection around me while they talked among themselves. I did keep saying, “Non mi sento bene.” I don’t feel well. I did that partly to hear myself talk, to affirm my aliveness and partly to let them know I still needed their compassionate help.}

^{I knew I had to call Lee to tell him what happened and where to find me: what if I passed out and he didn’t know where I was? I got him on the phone, then learned that my protectors had called the ambulance for me. I gave that news to Lee so he could meet me at the hospital in Pistoia. While waiting for the ambulance, one of the men, the one with the son, brought me “l’aqua di limone con zucchero” - lemon water with sugar. I couldn’t get enough of it like nectar from a spring bringing me back to life.}

^{The ambulance arrived and I had to say good bye. Feeling teary, I put my hands together and said, “Grazie, grazie mille. E molto gentile da parte vostra”. Thank you. Thank you so much. It’s very kind of all of you. As the ambulance team took over, this group of divine Protectors said good bye to me. Then, the little boy said, in English, “Good luck.” They dispersed like dust, the same way they came.}

^{In the ambulance, on a gurney, and about a ten minute ride to the hospital, I noticed how nice I felt and how much I loved the little rock of the ambulance on the road, like being in the womb or on a train. I felt relaxed like I wanted to sleep. Could I just take a nap in here, please? But they needed my name, so I pulled out my passport. In Italy it’s easier to just show them my name, than trying to spell it, to say the letters in Italian because the sounds are so confusing. “A” in English is “E” in Italian. “E” in English is “I” in Italian. And I have several of those in my name. So it is very hard to keep it straight and stay in one lane or the other when spelling words. She confirmed I was an American. But I had to convince her we live here in Pistoia full time now. She seemed, like so many, interested in why an American would move to Pistoia. We hear this all the time. “Why would you move here?” they ask. I guess the grass is always greener….}

^{I kept saying, Do you need more of my documents since I had quite a stack with me, prepared to register for the national insurance? She said no, only asked how I was doing and letting me know how much more time to the hospital. That was it. She got my name and my Italian telephone number. I can’t believe I remembered my Italian phone number by heart. Did anyone notice…she didn’t ask if I had health insurance or a health insurance card?}

^{At the hospital, I was put in a mostly uncomfortable faux leather chair in a waiting area with about a dozen other people. They wrapped my ankle in an ice pack but no offer of water or, god forbid, a bathroom break. I imagined I would be there for hours as all things Italian are slow. I was trying to call Lee but there was no service without signing up for the hospital wifi so I navigated the online app to create an account which is confounding under normal circumstances with texting codes and filling in OTP and fuck, fuck, fuck. He finally found his way to me, having been waiting for me in another waiting room and I was happy to have him sit in the chair next to me and hold my hand.}

^{I probably waited only 45 min for the x rays, after which a 30-something woman named Valentina, who was annoyed by having to find me a wheelchair and whose zipper was down on her jeans, but who thankfully understood and spoke a little English, wheeled me to the doctor’s smallish, unimpressive, but functional office, and who sat behind her desk and never got up to greet me. I have no idea what her name is, to this day. She started speaking quickly (they all do!) and decisively and along with the actions of Valentina and a male colleague lifting me onto a table and efficiently beginning to wrap my ankle the old fashioned way with white gauze that would turn into plaster when complete, it was pretty clear I had a break. At some point I realized I needed to get my pants off or I would have to cut them off at home. They seem to have missed that little detail. They handed me a pair of drawstring somethings I can only describe as pants suitable for the Michelin Man, but by now Valentina had warmed up to us and said, “They are Gucci.”}

^{That broke the ice and we all chatted about how I will wear the cast for 30 days, but if I put weight on it, I may have to have surgery and start over and I have to take a shot daily to prevent thrombosis. Oh, that’s not scary. Then I began with my questions.}

^{“Doccia?” I asked. Shower?}

^“No.”

^{“Ok. Devo viaggiare ai stati uniti.” Ok. I have to travel to the US.}

^{“Quando?” When?}

^{“Mezzo di giulio.” Half way of July.}

^{“No. Thrombosis. The airlines won’t let you fly,” Valentina said in English.}

^Ok.

^{Mixing my English and Italian I said, “Sto andando al register per il insurance italiano quando sono caduta.” I was going to register for Italian health insurance when I fell. I had just learned “I fell” and “Emergency Room” from my Pimsleur Italian lesson earlier in the week. Snappy little coincidence.}

^{“Well, you might have to pay today.” Again in English. This relieved so much pressure on my brain to hear English.}

^Ok.

^{All done, the cast was a sculptural work of art and he, a master of the craft. We met Valentina at a check out station and she gave us the prescriptions for medication and our invoice.}

^{It was 39€. I will spell that out in case you didn’t read it right. It was thirty-nine euro.}

^{The ambulance. The x-rays. The doctor. The wrapping of the cast. 39€. Translation: about $45.}

^{“You will have to pay for your medicine if you don’t have insurance.” she said in English. Register the insurance and it will all be free.”}

^{Now, I would go home and Lee and I would come to say, “We have broken an ankle.”}

^{We would see my neurotic need for perfection and frenzied life of activity and we would notice his depletion and impatience when asked to do something out of his wheelhouse, out of his ingrained habits.}

^{Is it possible “our broken ankle” is some kind of cosmic gift?'}

Stay tuned….

Lots of down time - with my pup Bruno, the poodle.

Watching Albert, the wonderful gardener at work from my wheelchair at the screen door.

Nature is part of my sanctuary now.

Thank you so much for being here and reading when the world pulls us in so many directions! Heck, this is the weekend of the Bezos wedding in Venice and you could be reading about that instead!