It was JUST a vacuum cord. Something ordinary. Something harmless. Something most of us would step over without thinking twice. For my super-ambitious grandfather, at age 95, tripping over that single cord changed everything. As he aged, his mind told him nothing had changed: "you don't need a cane, walker, or wheelchair; keep mowing the lawn, going down the basement stairs, and getting stuck in a cushy chair (ignoring precautionary recommendations from family and healthcare professionals)."

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That fall changed how he moved through his home. It changed his independence. It decreased his interest in socializing. A broken hip, exhausting physical therapy, nursing home rehab, going from a walker to a wheelchair, an EZ- Stand to a Hoyer, no longer driving, taking ongoing prescriptions for the first time in his life at age 98, and feeling like he was being unnecessarily "fussed" over eroded his self-confidence. It changed how we, as a family, worried about him. We experienced first-hand how much a fall can drastically change a person's life.

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​I realized then that falls are not just physical events. They are emotional turning points. He lived to be 100 years old, but his quality of life was abruptly downgraded after that first fall and it made him susceptible to more falls. By the time his bathtub had been remodeled into a shower and grab bars had been installed, the damage had already been done. 

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I can’t undo what happened to my grandfather, but I can help prevent it from happening to someone else’s grandparent, parent, spouse, friend, neighbor, or even to you. Every home I walk into, I carry that memory with me.

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Sometimes it isn’t a major hazard that changes a life. Sometimes it’s JUST a cord on the floor.

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Today, Minnesota Safe Steps serves seniors and families across Southern Minnesota — because every home deserves to be as safe as the person living in it.