It’s all fun and games till someone breaks a foot. You’ve probably said that hundreds of times. Well, OK, maybe not that exactly, but something like that. You get the idea.

In a series of actions difficult to describe (read: It happened too fast for anyone to pay attention to), our five-year-old grandson managed to break my wife’s foot during a Thanksgiving visit. A rather beefy walnut stool was involved. Also, gravity.

We just assumed it was badly bruised at the time, but when serious swelling set in a few days later Sally deemed it prudent to check it out. The thing of it is, is that getting around was becoming an issue for her. Fortunately, I’m a woodworker. Also fortunately, I had some scrap in the shop.

A quick couple of slices and a length of 1x2 oak became a “cane.” Yes, the quotes are intentional, since what we’re talking about here is basically a stick with handle. However, it served nicely as a temporary aid to steady her as we navigated the halls of the local urgent-care facility. Not a project I’ll brag about, but since I made the stool that broke her foot I suppose it was only right I make something to help get the foot fixed.

All’s well that ends well: Sally got her foot fixed, she gets a personal servant (me) for an undetermined amount of time, my vast skills at stick creation came in handy, and everyone has a good story to tell around the Christmas tree.

And, no, the makeshift cane did not go back into my scrap barrel. Being that our grandson is still five, we thought it wise to hang onto it for possible future use.