Time For A Fact Check

Hello again! I am back after taking time off to come to grips with changes that have greatly impacted my life in the last two and a half years. The first was the sudden, unexpected death of my best friend and life partner, Rick, who gave me strength and companionship to deal with problems on life’s bumpy road. Another change was the progression of my Parkinson’s that has made me wheelchair bound and living in a nursing home. I can handle the Parkinson’s but I miss Rick so much that I have trouble accepting it. I often think that he will walk through the door and we will be together again.

I miss the life I had. As I said, I can accept living in a nursing home although it is a mix of good and bad. The home and staff are very kind and loving people who treat the residents as family. The problem lies in the friendships that are made between residents and the fact that these are usually short lived due to serious illness and frequent accidents. I know illness and accidents exist and touch our lives in our homes and families, however, they do not occur with the frequency that happen here in our nursing home. We have lost seven residents in two months, each one touching us with feelings of personal loss and sorrow. This is something I did not expect and with some of my friends who died, the sorrow and lonesomeness are greater and long lasting.

Please apply the Native American adage: “Walk a mile in my shoes…” and become aware of the many hardships nursing home residents have to accept because of illness/accidents that have entrapped them in their new homes. If you think it’s a bummer visiting your family or loved ones in a home, try and think how they feel torn from the home they lived in before they were placed in to the care of strangers.