Current events on TV always happen to someone else. I welcome the current events and politics now unfolding in which improvement is being made in our social systems, health systems, and educational institutions. On yesterday evening was news that roadways are going to be improved by making changes in signs and other traffic control so that elderly drivers will find it easier to travel by car longer.Also, It is always welcome news to hear when we can bring home troops from a foreign conflicts and war zones. Life is good when we can keep our lives productive, happy and well. But what if.......
My sister's husband suddenly became an invalid .... and several of my friends now have invalid husbands to care for .... (good that the husband is receiving love and care when he loses his normal functioning, but bad for the one who must now not only care for herself but her husband also).
Understanding this hardship others must cope with when their loved ones now depend on them 24 hours a day, or until either spouse realizes they must be moved to a nursing home, or worse case, accept finality their loss ending their long marriage together, I feel and understand their sadness, their daily problems adjusting/adapting. I am most grateful that I am spared this ordeal in life.
I took care of my elderly Mother and that was difficult enough.
The flip side is that single elderly persons must arrange for their own care as they lose function and normalcy. The lucky ones have children or intimate close friends who help them with love and support. Moving to an assisted living care facility is the choice made by some. Others, presented with uncertainty, and faced with life change generally not well planned or prepared for, sometimes suddenly without warning, must have others decide for them what is to be done. Some commit suicide when their situation is perceived to be hopeless and terminal. Some just manage to survive in their homes pecking away at their computer like myself in this Yahoo group trying to stay mentally alert, happy, and as well as is to be expected while aging.
Friends and caring neighbors are the greatest asset in senior living for all the imaginable cases. To be cut off, isolated, and all alone is frightening, but growing old and infirm in addition is an unbearable sentence to serve.
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