some time around 1:00 in the morning on saturday in august this year suffered from knee problems, lack of appetite and tried to use the portable urinal he kept by his bed. to limit those middle of the night trips to the toilet. sounds gross, i know. certainly not when the alternative is a 20-minute ordeal of struggling to the bathroom wondering what you'll do if you don't make it in time. that night there was an additional problem. he was having trouble going. he tried to adjust his position sitting on the edge of the bed and the mattress shifted underneath him and deposited him gently on the floor. he might have been in nothing more threatening in a seated position there. with his knees as bad as they are, there was almost no chance he would get out of it without help. for reasons that would later become apparent, my father would