Working with Seniors ? Touch Them Today - Tomorrow may be To Late.

Early one morning I arrived to find , as I many times do, that the EMS unit was again parked at the front of the building...

~ without even the chance to say good by they are gone ~

Who was it today? What had happened? I walked down to the cafe to get the morning's juice and fruit for my clients and was struck by the residents sitting in and around the lobby - all but motionless, the look all to familiar. What had happened screamed loudly from their faces even though they uttered no sound.

As the medics rounded the corner guiding a gurney with a blanketed resident on it, everyone began to mutter to each other, "can you see who it is? I think its Mary, no it's Martha, oh what is wrong?"
"She seemed fine at dinner last night" one of them says. "I heard she fell" said another.

All the talk that day is about Martha, all hoping she will be OK and return soon, and she did. However often those we watch being taken out do not return. And without even the chance to say good by they are gone never to return to dinner or bingo or the Monday night card party.

Everyday I take the time to talk to as many residents as I can. Give a hug, a kiss or just a simple touch on the shoulder. I tell them how happy I am to know them. We have a laugh or sometimes cry, but we connect. I never know if tomorrow may be to late.

Take Care My Friends
Ruth Anne