Spending time visiting my mom in rehab, which is also a nursing home, is both a humbling and profound experience.
On Christmas Day and the day after I attended 'events' with my mom to get her out of her room.
The first day their was entertainment for the seniors, comparable to 'The Wedding Singer' and he was worth the journey out of my mother's modest room.
While watching and listening to our 'entertainer' sing while playing his guitar my aunt and husband were also present. I believe we were all equally stunned at the scene we were witnessing on Christmas Day.
A Line of Wheel Chairs lined the room, row after row. The expressionless faces on most of the resident faces would force anyone to evaluate their mortality.
As the entertainer sang his heart out, a few swayed to the music while one exceptionally lively patron sang along, loudly, at her own beat. The music was good, catchy and brought back memories for all who could hear it.
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| Ty sitting between me and his grandma |
It was a sad environment, with a glimmer of sunshine peaking into the hearts of only a few. I'm not sure if my mom really enjoyed the entire episode, and although she and my aunt engaged with the music, I am sure my mother was more concerned with her role among all the others,
"Was she now one of them?"
Our opinion is unlikely, but to an outsider one could easily lump her in with the herd of humans occupying the room.
The next day (today) we attended a totally different event. It was "Choir". Christmas songs after Christmas, and the patients were the ones singing. My mom sang and sang well, although her heart was not in it. She was not feeling extremely well, but she still did much better than many of the other patients. She enjoyed her hour of song as best she could.
My final thoughts after this experience:
I believe no matter were our lives take us, through successes, hardship or happiness getting old and losing what we once were is inevitable for most. We begin as babies needing someone to care for all our basic needs and grow old needing all those same basic needs cared for. We become helpless once again.
This is a reality most of us never confront until we face it head on, or if a loved one is experiencing it. We are than forced to accept that life, as we once knew it, will never be the same again.
Cherish all the easy day to day life tasks, find fulfillment in the simplicity, enjoy your freedoms. In an instant, they may all be gone and we turn into blank, reflective slates with nothing else to look forward to in this lifetime.
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