"Can you dry my tears?" he said, "I don't like getting old, can't do the things I used to do." I rubbed his shoulder "Don't cry, you'll make me cry." He went on. "I feel so alone, I don't like the nursing home." "Aren't there people there to talk to?" I asked. "There all like me, old, they forget things, I can't stand being old." Tears started streaming down his face, and he asked again as I grabbed a tissue, "Can you dry my tears?" "Of course I can." I said "Of course I can." This was a elderly in his early 80s who had come into the ER. I had come over to check his vitals and run a few minor tests when we started talking. I introduced myself when I had first come over, but after we had talked for a while he asked my name again and I told him. He asked, "Cricket"? I corrected him, but he thought Cricket was a better name.
The sweetest old man in the whole world will forever remain in my heart. He cried real tears because he was feeling old and no one was there for him. Someone had just stuffed him into a nursing home to live out the rest of his life with out considering the fact that just maby he had some fight left in him and he might want to do something with the rest of his life. Makes me think twice about living my life to the fullest day to day. It also makes me think that we as a culture don't have respect for the elderly of our society. They have so very much to offer us in the way of knowlege and experience, yet what do we do? We stuff them in nursing homes where they get treated like they are no longer useful to the world. This man told me he felt "Hopeless". How horrible is that! How much could we learn from these people if we just stopped and listened. Listened to stories about their lives, listened to lessons they have learned, mistakes they have made. How much better could we be if generations banded together instead of looking down on one another? I see so much mistreatment of elderly by the time they get to the ER. The fix has to start small. Families. Talk to your grandparents before you can't. Learn from them. Experience them.
This experience has made me want to visit nursing homes. Hopefully there is one near school I can involved with. I will be the first to admit that I have made snap judgments in the ER with elderly patients, but until you get the whole story there's nothing that should be judged. I have learned so much and not just about the elderly and will continue to pass it on.
Something everyone seems to forget when they are mistreating the elderly - You are gonna be that way someday too. Do you want to be forgotten about? Do you want to end up in an ER feeling hopeless and forgotten? I don't think so! So then why America do you treat your Grandma and Grandpa that way?! Why do I end up wiping their tears!? Step up, and Step into their lives. You need them just as much as they need you.
John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
