Working With the Elderly

I work with elderly people in an assisted living facility. Each time I see a particular resident, the experience is new. I try to comprehend how it must feel to age, to change and become more and more dependent. The result is, I'm dumbfounded... I just don't understand.

I talk with residents who tell me about their former careers, amazing vacations they've been on, achievements throughout life, etc. They even relate to where I am at in my life right now. "When my first son was born, I was so terrified, yet excited," one resident recalled. "He wouldn't sleep until I bounced him so long I developed a constant twitch." That's right, I would think... That's what I have to do. Then ten minutes later, the resident would ask me how my baby was and recap her experience, "When my first son was born, I was so terrified, yet excited." My heart sinks each time. Will that be me when I get "OLD?"

Then I talk with another woman who just celebrated her 101st birthday! She tells me to come into her room where she is sitting with her newspaper sprawled out and her magnifying glass in hand. "Can you believe what a jerk that Madoff guy is? He deserves everything that's being handed to him," she states with a grimace. Then she talks about our current economy and the Great Depression and how our country is so mismanaged. "Will we ever get it right," she asks rhetorically as I look at her in amazement. How can a woman who is so old be so with it? Will THAT me be when I get "OLD?"

I then cross the hall where I see little Tracy trying to get out of bed with twisted hands and feet from years of arthritis eating at her joints. She looks at me with frustration and says, "It sucks being old. Don't ever do it!" I chuckle, yet empathetically also want to cry. Tracy's mind is as sharp as the 101 year-old, but her young, 74 year-old body is failing. Will that be me when I get OLD? "

Each day I am humbled and curious about life. If I eat right, will my body be healthy and strong when I'm 80? If I read a lot and do crossword puzzles, will I bypass Alzheimer's Disease? Who knows the answer to these questions, scientific experts? What "controlled" study will they come up next? Probably one that claims green tea and tomatoes are the cure all, oh wait, it's that little yellow pill passed down from Big Pharma.

The one point I am certain about that people can control is attitude. I see young, healthy individuals complaining about how life stinks and they've been handed the raw end of the deal. Then I see someone like Tracy struggling to get out of bed and making jokes about being old. She smiles everyday and has a little skip in her crippled, walker-aided step. Tracy loves life and makes the best of her situation. Hmm, why the difference in attitude? Is it experience or the understanding that life could be much worse? Or are the younger generations just spoiled with an overindulgent sense of entitlement? Just a little something to ponder.

I, personally, am humbled everyday by the elderly people of this community. They each have their own struggles and issues, but they are alive and continue to thrive. I just hope younger generations appreciate where they are at in life and realize that one day they, too, will be "OLD." No matter what body part fails or how bad the memory declines, it's attitude and relationships that are the difference and make life worth the struggle!

Trisha Kellogg