And Elderlies are like Children...

Something to be said about the elderly. I really do love old people! I've had plenty of people express fear of the elderly to me. Personally, I can't relate. I think they're my favorite kind of people!

"Children are innocent, yeah
teenagers fucked up in the head.
Adults are even more fucked up
and elderlies are like children"

There's something pure in spirit with an old person. They've lived, they've esperienced, and often have fascinating insights we young people don't stop to learn. We often, as a culture, dismiss the elderly - assume senility. And while this, to an extent, is common, we dismiss even their most lucid observations and commentaries.

I had the most pleasant experience of being sitter for 8 hours with a woman in her late 80's. Now sitting is usually a painfully dull task. The concensus with the techs throughout the hospital is that time would be much better spent doing something more productive than sitting in one room all night playing babysitter. I've had more than my share of sitting, and while its usually a challenge to fight boredom & stay awake all night, it doesn't really bother me. (Maybe I'm just lucky... I've still yet to be kicked, bitten, or spit at!)

So back to m'lady. I'm not going to delve into her personal story, but I will say she really didn't need a sitter. Since the doctor ordered one, though, we were under obligation. Sh wasn't happy about this; it truly saddened her that shw was not trusted to be in her room alone. We still can't see why the doctor ordered it, but foul play involving a family member speaking on her behalf may be involved. (Again, people dismiss so much of what the elderly say!)

So, I let m'lady know that we didn't think she was "nuts". (her word, not mine!) Poor thing - she thought her sitters were here 24/7 to observe her every action to see if she was mentally unstable!!

She spent almost an hour talking to mbe about herself & her sticky situation. (I may not come off as such, but yes, I can be quite the bleeding heart!) So anyway, at one point she stopped and looked at me right into my eyes and asked me if I loved my grandmother. That's when I lost it. "Niagra Falls"... I had to get up and grab tissues! What got into me? I'll tell you. It wasn't the question; it was the honesty, the sincerely wanting to know... it was the way her eyes held onto mine waiting for an answer. It was her patience, when my eyes filled up with tears, not saying anything. She knew once I swallowed the lump in my throat that something meaningful was going to come out.

Yeah, I love old people! I wish our culture wasn't so quick to devalue the aged. We can learn a lot from them. Oh, and how the hell she came up with that question out of the blue was beyond me. I'd been thinking about my grandparents a LOT in the last week, andm issing the hell out of them. I guess the innocent pure spirits can sense these things!

... i'll come back and edit spelling and grammar, if need be, later. It's after 10am, and way past my bedtime... after all, I've still got to work tonight!