This Monday for my Nursing School lab class, we went to an extended care facility and had to perform a documentation on them and ask them some questions. Before we went there, though, we had to read this poem the instructor put online for us to read and comment about. It is called "A Crabbit Old Woman Wrote This". The poem is about an elderly woman who talks about how she feels during her time in a nursing home and how she has no control anymore. She also goes on and summarizes her life story and what she has done and been through. It was so sad how true it really kind of is. After my visit at the ECF, I felt so sad for them. They are stuck there and cannot go out on their own or some may need help with everything from dressing to eating and everything in between. It makes me think that their loved ones cannot or will not even try to care for them and just dump them off at a home for other's to take care of them. Do they even visit them every day or at least every week?!

My grandmother had Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. She was with us in her home she grew old in with my grandpa from start to end. It was so hard and horrible to watch her slowly deteriorate every day and progress more and more in the stages of Alzheimer's, but my grandpa, mom, and I all stuck with her through it all and took care of her until the end. My grandfather is the true hero and trooper in this whole change all through the years. He is elderly too, but that did not stop him from taking care of his wife and not letting her suffer alone in a home. It was definitely not easy for him! It caused him physical and emotional pain, pain that he hide well, but was easy to guess. However, he made due, with help from my mother and I, and did the absolute best he could. He is my hero and best friend and I am so grateful, proud, and sad for him. My grandmother died over the summer in June. She was in hospice in the hospital for her last week on earth. It was extremely hard for all of us to watch and see her go through this. We just had to keep telling ourselves that she was going to better place, she would not be in any more pain, she would be her old self, and she would be with her loved ones that she has lost. I hope God has reserved a special place for my grandpa in Heaven. I also hope God gives my grandpa quite a few more years on Earth with us to just relax and enjoy time with his family.

I just wonder is she knew how much we loved her and actually knew that we were there to take care of her and not hurt her or let her get hurt. My experience has given me the empathy and insight that some people never get to have. Living in a three-generation household has been an opportunity that I will treasure forever and will assist me in my nursing career giving me the ability to be patient with all people no matter how young or ill they are. I just wish my mom and I moved here sooner from California before the disease started to change her. I only had a few years with her, that was not enough to get to know the great woman she has always been that people tell me about and not enough time for her to get to know me more.

So I ask you all to give the elderly a chance. If people would just stop every once in a while to talk to them about their lives, it would surely brighten their day and make them feel better. Elderly people have great insight, wisdom, and stories from their lives, and I wish young people and adults would realize that and talk to them more. They may be surprised at how fascinating it can be to learn about history straight from people who were actually alive back then. Elderly people are sweet, and they just want to be accepted and not judged. They were young once too! We must never forget that we will all get old one day if we are lucky enough to live that long, so we should just make the most of it. Elderly people will not be around forever so enjoy them while you can and help them enjoy the rest of their lives with dignity and happiness.