People like hearing and talking about spiritual matters. Books related to spirituality are increasingly popular. No matter where I go, I see people reading these books in airports, in bookstores, hotel lobbies, restaurants, public buses, in doctors’ waiting rooms. Once in awhile if I have the time and if I think the person is willing to engage, I try and strike up a conversation. “Good book?” “I read that too.” “What a well-written book. It was so interesting that I couldn’t put it down.” Some people nod and return to their reading. For others it is like opening a floodgate, and they can’t get enough conversation. They are starving for people to share thoughts and experiences.
My ears are always open to hearing and reading about people’s experiences. I have had many of my own but there is no tiring of the spiritual life. This morning I may have had another “what was that?” or “is it possible that?” experiences. For the last six weeks I have been doing some very part-time care giving work for an agency that sends me to peoples’ homes and residential centers to help people who need some kind of assistance. That might mean transporting people to appointments, making sure that they take their medicines, helping people dress and clean their living spaces, etc. Caregivers are sent out on assignments to work with clients. Sometimes these assignments can last weeks, months and even years. They can be quite rewarding for both the client and the caregiver.
Here is my story. My client, whom I will call Dorothy, and I have known each other for about six weeks, Her husband passed away and she has had around the clock care since she brought him home from the hospital so that he could die at home. She has mild Alzheimer’s and diabetes and cannot be left alone. She has been easy to work with and not taxing. That is a nice way of saying that she is not a lot of trouble. She is delightful and easygoing. From her perspective, her whole life has been turned upside down. “I don’t much like my new life,” she often says. Frankly, who could blame her? She was married to the same man for 55 years, and was not at all prepared to lose him. She seems lost and in grief, which is totally natural and understandable. Yet, she manages to ask “Would you like some Fresca?” or “What are you going to eat for dinner?”
Yesterday, I arrived a Dorothy’s house a 9 a.m. for a two-day assignment, which means staying here for 48 hours until the next caregiver arrives for another 24 or 48 hours. Yesterday was a bit different from other days that I have spent with Dorothy. She beckoned me into her bedroom to help her untangle some jewelry. I didn’t know if I could help her with it. Usually I turn such projects over to other people who are more skilled at working with small objects. Surprisingly, it took me a few minutes to release the two earrings that were facing strangulation by the gold chain. Dorothy then showed me some of her jewelry. We talked about where she got the items and which decade she wore them. I went back into the living room to sit down and watch television and a few minutes later Dorothy brought out an ornate gold piece that looked like an oblong egg. She opened it up and there was a thimble, needle and thread. We both marveled at it.
This morning when Dorothy woke up she came into the kitchen and announced that she couldn’t find her glasses. “Strange,” she said “ always leave them next to the bed on the table with the light.” I knew that this was true because her glasses were the last thing that she took off a night before she went to bed. We looked all over. We looked in drawers, in closets, under the bed and finally I found them in the most unlikely place. They were in her jewelry tray that she had shown me the day before! What were they doing there?!!
If you ask me, I think that her late husband showed up in his very own way and placed them there. I can’t explain it away to her mild Alzheimer’s disease. I do know that some of the jewelry pieces were ones that he gave her and that they have special meaning to her. Any comments anyone?
People like hearing and talking about spiritual matters. Books related to spirituality are increasingly popular. No matter where I go, I see people reading these books in airports, in bookstores, hotel lobbies, restaurants, public buses, in doctors’ waiting rooms. Once in awhile if I have the time and if I think the person is willing to engage, I try and strike up a conversation. “Good book?” “I read that too.” “What a well-written book. It was so interesting that I couldn’t put it down.” Some people nod and return to their reading. For others it is like opening a floodgate, and they can’t get enough conversation. They are starving for people to share thoughts and experiences.
My ears are always open to hearing and reading about people’s experiences. I have had many of my own but there is no tiring of the spiritual life. This morning I may have had another “what was that?” or “is it possible that?” experiences. For the last six weeks I have been doing some very part-time care giving work for an agency that sends me to peoples’ homes and residential centers to help people who need some kind of assistance. That might mean transporting people to appointments, making sure that they take their medicines, helping people dress and clean their living spaces, etc. Caregivers are sent out on assignments to work with clients. Sometimes these assignments can last weeks, months and even years. They can be quite rewarding for both the client and the caregiver.
Here is my story. My client, whom I will call Dorothy, and I have known each other for about six weeks, Her husband passed away and she has had around the clock care since she brought him home from the hospital so that he could die at home. She has mild Alzheimer’s and diabetes and cannot be left alone. She has been easy to work with and not taxing. That is a nice way of saying that she is not a lot of trouble. She is delightful and easygoing. From her perspective, her whole life has been turned upside down. “I don’t much like my new life,” she often says. Frankly, who could blame her? She was married to the same man for 55 years, and was not at all prepared to lose him. She seems lost and in grief, which is totally natural and understandable. Yet, she manages to ask “Would you like some Fresca?” or “What are you going to eat for dinner?”
Yesterday, I arrived a Dorothy’s house a 9 a.m. for a two-day assignment, which means staying here for 48 hours until the next caregiver arrives for another 24 or 48 hours. Yesterday was a bit different from other days that I have spent with Dorothy. She beckoned me into her bedroom to help her untangle some jewelry. I didn’t know if I could help her with it. Usually I turn such projects over to other people who are more skilled at working with small objects. Surprisingly, it took me a few minutes to release the two earrings that were facing strangulation by the gold chain. Dorothy then showed me some of her jewelry. We talked about where she got the items and which decade she wore them. I went back into the living room to sit down and watch television and a few minutes later Dorothy brought out an ornate gold piece that looked like an oblong egg. She opened it up and there was a thimble, needle and thread. We both marveled at it.
This morning when Dorothy woke up she came into the kitchen and announced that she couldn’t find her glasses. “Strange,” she said “ always leave them next to the bed on the table with the light.” I knew that this was true because her glasses were the last thing that she took off a night before she went to bed. We looked all over. We looked in drawers, in closets, under the bed and finally I found them in the most unlikely place. They were in her jewelry tray that she had shown me the day before! What were they doing there?!!
If you ask me, I think that her late husband showed up in his very own way and placed them there. I can’t explain it away to her mild Alzheimer’s disease. I do know that some of the jewelry pieces were ones that he gave her and that they have special meaning to her. Any comments anyone?
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