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Health & Fitness

The Woman Who Made My Day

She must have been in her nineties, and I remembered helping her on the phone. But who knew she would burst into tears with gratitude? And that it was her first time out in years?

I often get "looks" from my friends when I tell them of my adventures working with seniors. They wonder why I do what I do. Why do I work with seniors when I have a Master’s degree in Theatre?   Even my friends who live in the scandalous world of the theatre found many of the stories I told to be “out there.” They wonder if what I tell them is true or if I am trying to recreate Sheridan’s School for Scandal. 

Today was a typical day of at work (although not quite scandalous – I may post those stories later), and I thought I'd take a minute to share before I go off and get ready for tomorrow.  It may explain why I (and “we” as senior advocates) do what we do.

Today was Brain Day part one at the NSC.  It is a two day event where we have guest lecturers and experts on brain health come in and speak to the seniors on different ways to retain cognitive power.  It has been a good day so far, with only minor irritations or odd comments on things like my new haircut, or why lunch wasn’t served for the brain day event – for free.  The standard norm was in place and I shrugged off the rest. 

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After each lecturer, the seniors got to put their name in a raffle for prizes that are to be drawn tomorrow after the event is completed. I was sitting at the raffle table as the seniors approached.

I was literally covered in seniors – reaching for raffle tickets and pens as if the roll of tickets would suddenly disappear if they didn’t rush.  In the myriad of random chit chat, and overhearing gossip about each other, the previous lecturer, or what was coming next, a woman and her caretaker rolled up to me. 

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I had to lean in close to hear this small framed, fragile looking woman who looked like she was in her nineties.  She had asked me if I was the one who spoke to her on the phone and helped her sort out her calendar.  Yes, that’s right.  I helped her figure out what her personal calendar might have said through the phone on a day her caretaker was unable to be there.  I remember doing this because I thought it was an odd request, and the amount of time it took to sort out her “scribblings,” as she called them, tested my endurance and patience.  I said I remembered her call, and mentioned how nice it was to see the person behind the phone receiver.  She immediately grabbed my hand and held it close to her face.  Her eyes at first became cloudy, and then like the sky lately, opened into a rainfall of tears.  She thanked me for helping her figure out her calendar, and that she had made her doctors appointment for the day because of me.  Her eyes were now smiling – dancing in the wrinkles of her face.  It was beautiful.

She went on for a bit and then just as quickly as her face had changed before it changed again.  She told her caretaker she was tired and wished to go home.  She dropped my hand and gazed off into the distance. 

Her caretaker shook my hand and then got her belongings together and put them in a bag and draped them behind the woman’s wheelchair.  She had a huge smile on her face, and she told me that this was the woman’s first time out in several years – since the passing of her husband.  She had been told that they must come out to the brain day event to say thank you to the person who took the time to talk to her like a person – not as a child, or dismiss her as just “another old person.”  They strolled off silently and exited to the parking lot. 

I hope they come back tomorrow for the second half of brain day.   To my friends who still ask how and why I work with seniors, today was a perfect example. As for the scandals and other stories I share from the center, they just add flavor to the already well spiced mix.

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