crossingMy students are in the nursing home. For many of them this is the first time they are confronted with the frailties of the human body and mind. Generally they approach this experience with a mix of excitement to be working with real people and fear/worry about what they’ll encounter and how they’ll handle it.

Most of the students, once they overcome their initial trepidation, find that they look past the physical ailments – the contorted limbs, drooling faces and slurred speech – to recognize that in that body lives someone who is worthy of the time and energy put into caring for them.

 

The residents love the company. They love to tell the stories of their lives, of times past when things were, if not simpler, at least very different. You can literally see the light in their eyes when someone spends even a little time with them.

These experiences lead the students to  recognize that in many ways life is unfair. Here is a resident how was independent for 60 years, perhaps ran their own business, and today they must be fed one spoonful at a time by someone else because they can no longer hold a spoon.

Here is a teacher who taught thousands of students during her career but who can now not recognize her own daughter  or tell you where she is.

Or, perhaps they see the 30 year old former college student who was severely brain injured in an auto accident at age 24 who will live the rest of their days with the mental capacity of a two year old.

Or the 40-something woman who has lost the ability to care for herself to the advances of multiple sclerosis.

May of these students come away with a new appreciation for their own health and that of their family. They come away with a deeper appreciation for the tenuousness of life as we know it. They begin to recognize the importance of now.

Others – thankfully very few – realize that this is something they can’t face. It is not in them look past these frailties and celebrate the lives of the people. They are unable to celebrate the life of the elderly person whose time is coming to an end.

For these student I feel sad; they are cutting themselves off from a rich source of history in life’s experiences.

If you truly want to enrich your life, drag yourself to a nursing home. Put some light into the eyes of an elderly person whose family seldom visits as often as they should, and whose friends have all been dying off.

Put a little light in your heart by opening yourself to the wealth of experiences and knowledge and wisdom of those who have lived through experiences and events that we can’t even imagine.

You’ll be glad you did.