The Fall of Lindy Ridgway
Next Sunday has yet another reminder that Elly wears flats because on heels, she's convinced that she's going to fall and end up being expected to do everything she normally does despite being in traction. Personal experience tells me that people who fall and bust something are never as sure on their feet as they were beforehand.
Given that Elly just expected her family to deal with her fear of falling and stop scaring her, it seems to me that Lynn must have had a nasty fall when she was three or so. She might not remember it but it could still influence her. Not only does she get her bowels in an uproar when confronted with her family's "want to fall down, cripple themselves and take away her freedom of action" lifestyle, it could be why she doesn't like complaining. She wasn't "allowed" to complain when she was hurt so other people can't either. This loops back into her belief that she's just this zero who isn't allowed to speak: the three year old who expected an anesthetic to act like an off switch is the seventy-year old who instinctively thinks that pain is forever but she's not supposed to react to it.