My niece is drafted

My niece and nephew are good kids, but they are just that kids, so their assistance when I fall usually just consists of getting a parent (usually, I remember my nephew's helping after a fall). Tonight, though, my niece got enlisted in the recovery efforts.

I really wish my sister had said to her -- paraphrasing Victor Lazlo to Rick in Casablanca -- "Welcome to the fight. This time I know our side will win."Except I am pretty confident FA will eventually win.

My niece came in to wake me up for dinner, which was fine, but when I awoke I slid off my chaise onto the floor. I started laughing, so she did, too, and she said to her brother, go get mom.

My sister, who wrongly thinks I write her as a villain or jerk, did come in and move stuff and then got me into a sitting position on the floor. At that point, she had my niece stand behind me to give me something to lean into. My sister went in search of a small chair I could get on as a middle step between the floor and my chair.

We learned that worked well the other night when I was playing with the puppy and my seatbelt came undone and I flopped onto the ground nowhere near anything I could use to help get up.

My brother-in-law wasn't home for the puppy-flopping incident, and he was home tonight but his back is iffy these days, so he was unable to help.

After my sister got the chair, she had my niece stand on my feet so my legs could help stand. I thought this was kind of bold since my niece is not very weighty. But it worked; I didn't kick her off. We got up to the little chair, fell off it once, got to the wheelchair, almost fell out of that once and finally got in.

All through it, my niece was laughing, which probably made it harder for me because I was laughing, but it was a worthwhile added hardship.