Reach Out
I love, love, love visiting nursing homes with my children. Even my shiest kids break out and participate in handing out whatever goodie or decoration we bring. A Baylor alum group met at a nursing home near me to spread some Halloween cheer so we beelined over there, too.
There is a bit of a dance involved when I try to communicate with people in these homes. I don't know what kind of interaction they are interested in or how they are feeling. I don't want to presume that everyone thinks preschoolers toddling around are a thing of joy. Some people love the visitors, others don't seem interested and I'm sure some are delighted inside, but because of that aging process, you just can't tell from their faces or words that they are actually happy or receptive. This poor group got stuck with us (our singing wasn't fabulous) since they were all arriving and waiting for lunch. All you can do is show up and hope that you did make a difference in someones day. Also, don't think they didn't let me know how frustrating it was to have to come in every day and never know how long they will have to wait until their lunch is served! I'm sure it is maddening to loose all control.
The biggest surprise for me was this neat guy. He seems to carry around a packet of laminated photos and information about the ship he served on in World War II. Dylan stuck to him like glue and carried on quite a conversation as he was shown picture after picture. The gentleman even explained his jobs on the ship and where he worked on it. I wonder what feelings brought him to the point of needing to carry around this part of his history with him, however, I love that we were there for him to share those memories with us.
There is a bit of a dance involved when I try to communicate with people in these homes. I don't know what kind of interaction they are interested in or how they are feeling. I don't want to presume that everyone thinks preschoolers toddling around are a thing of joy. Some people love the visitors, others don't seem interested and I'm sure some are delighted inside, but because of that aging process, you just can't tell from their faces or words that they are actually happy or receptive. This poor group got stuck with us (our singing wasn't fabulous) since they were all arriving and waiting for lunch. All you can do is show up and hope that you did make a difference in someones day. Also, don't think they didn't let me know how frustrating it was to have to come in every day and never know how long they will have to wait until their lunch is served! I'm sure it is maddening to loose all control.
The biggest surprise for me was this neat guy. He seems to carry around a packet of laminated photos and information about the ship he served on in World War II. Dylan stuck to him like glue and carried on quite a conversation as he was shown picture after picture. The gentleman even explained his jobs on the ship and where he worked on it. I wonder what feelings brought him to the point of needing to carry around this part of his history with him, however, I love that we were there for him to share those memories with us.
posted by henna's hearsay at 8:57 AM
1 Comments:
Lela, I am catching up on your posts for the last several days. I love them all. The pic from Jason, the Breathe ideas, the nursing home visit are all wonderful. You have a precious family and I'm glad you are enjoying the moments (most of them anyway).
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