Saturday Visits

         On Saturdays I usually visit my grandmother at a nursing home. She had a stroke a couple of years ago and could never fully recover. As a result, she lost the use of her right side and is stuck in a wheelchair. I remember when I came home for a visit, I really struggled with seeing her so helpless. I was shocked by the condition of the nursing home (not that it was bad, just different) and I was upset and thought that people weren't helping her quick enough. In other words, I wanted all of the staff to focus on her needs and ignore everyone else. Selfish, yes. We all want the best for our beloved family members. Since then I've calmed down a bit and gotten used to how things work there.

        Now that I'm back in America for a while, I've been visiting her regularly with my mom. Today, I chose to look at the good rather than the bad. I don't know when I consciously made this decision but today I only saw the good. My grandmother is being taken care of. She gets three meals a day and is showered, changed and clothed everyday. Her nursing home has activities for her to participate in. She has a kind and upbeat roommate. She gets calls from family almost every day. She gets to see me and my mom weekly and we often bring Starbucks Coffee or snacks and flowers for her. Last week we had a picnic of Chinese food since she hasn't had it in several years. Today we sat down with her and had her pick out some new outfits from a catalog that we be delivered to her. Most importantly, she has family who loves her and is thinking about her. How many people in her building can say that? How many people in nursing homes can say that? How many of the elderly in the world an say that?

Here's an interesting documentary of about the elderly in South Korea: