My fastin' days are done

 I'm 73 with some chronic health problems, and I was wondering how long I would be able to continue fasting on Yom Kippur. I got my answer today (er, yesterday)--I can no longer fast on Yom Kippur. I can tolerate being hungry or thirsty or having a low-grade headache, but getting dizzy is hazardous to my health. I've already broken my left wrist 3 times (because I'm a lefty) and my right wrist once, and I've injured both knees, all from falling. The combination of severe osteoporosis and chronic balance problems is a bit scary for a woman of my age. And, to boot, after the fast, I got several hours of leg and foot cramps, which our son thinks might have been caused by dehydration. From now on, I'm eating a hard-boiled egg and drinking at least one glass of water before going to synagogue on Yom Kippur morning.

The good news is that I got absolutely no flack from any of the other folks in my synagogue when I told them that I was breaking my fast. It probably helped that I was able to hold out until we went home for the post-Musaf break, but I did borrow my husband's water bottle (which he'd brought because he was warned by his doctor not to get dehydrated) and take a good swig in the synagogue office before we left. I don't think I've ever attended a synagogue in which the rabbi or cantor or whoever was "in charge" didn't announce that people should not fast if they weren't well enough. I guess I'm lucky that way, and I hope that such an announcement is, or becomes, commonplace.

P.S. I'm still up at this ridiculous hour because I want to be sure that the leg and foot cramps have finished having fun with me--it's worse being awakened by a leg cramp than staying up.