“I had a nightmare. I was being taken to a home I didn’t recognize and into a room I had never been in before. I was in a wheelchair. My mom is telling me it will be OK. She is holding my hand, and I am crying. I tell her I want to go home, but she is telling me I am home. My heart aches for dad on the other side of the door, knowing he will lie there, waiting, for the next visit.”
‘It is never enough. You can see the loneliness in his eyes when he hugs us goodbye.’: Daughter’s ‘gut wrenching’ nightmare makes her realize just how lonely her elderly father is after wife’s death to dementia
‘You don’t see what goes on behind closed doors. We love your family members as our own.’ Aged care worker explains she is not ‘incompetent,’ but ‘pressed for time’
“They don’t see us hold the hands of a man with Parkinson’s to ease his shakes. They don’t see us sing their favorite song quietly as we feed them breakfast. They don’t see us cry as we comb the hair of a resident who has just passed so they look presentable for their family. They don’t see us go home as a broken, shattered human who has seen more in one day than most people will ever see.”
‘233 Bossler Street. I’ve written that address hundreds of times. I’ll never write that address again.’ Woman reminisces on unexpected ‘last time’ she’d ever visit her grandparents’ home
“I never made it back because life got busy. I always thought there would be another time. There won’t be. Now, it’s someone else’s home, with someone else’s family.”
‘I heard two soft voices greet each other. ‘Elizabeth!’, ‘Cheryl!’, their voices almost shaken. Two elderly women had run into each other for the first time in months. I pretended to look at shoes as I listened in.’
“I didn’t plan on eavesdropping on their conversation, but there I was, not able to walk away. One of the women said to the other, ‘know anything we can gossip about?’ Ok, this is getting GOOD.”
‘I want to go see her.’ He said through his tears. ‘I’m so blessed to have found her. I wouldn’t trade one moment I had with her.’ We all needed tissues. He misses her so much it hurts.’
“We asked him if he knew what today was. ‘Is it someone’s birthday?,’ he asked. We told him it was his anniversary – what would have been his and mom’s 69th. He started crying. ‘Would you like to go to the cemetery to take her some flowers?’ He sat, in silence.”
‘This will be my Dad’s last parade. His heart is failing. All he talks about is the Memorial Day Parade – ‘Are you coming? I’ll be in my uniform.’
“We were unsure how to tell him he’s too weak to ride through the parade. Then we made the decision – we are going for it. We are putting him in his uniform and into a car, with a nurse, so one last time, he can see what he and his beloved wife did for our little town.”
‘No, I’m serious. He shot me.’ My husband was lying completely alone on the ground. He dragged himself away from the door. There was nothing I could do. Absolutely nothing.’
“My husband said, ‘I tried calling Ben, but he’s not answering. That’s not normal. Someone should go check on him.’ Ben has heart problems, he’s elderly. ‘I have a really bad feeling about this.’ They were not going to go inside because they knew he kept a loaded pistol next to the bed.”
‘Are these seats taken?’ He smiled kindly. ‘No, ma’am.’ His wrinkled hands are bruised. His bride, in a cable knit cardigan and white Keds, sits across the aisle. It’s a full flight.’
“I opened the pretzels for my daughter as he fiddled with the slick, shiny wrapper. I couldn’t decide how quickly I should offer my help. It was clear his violently shaking hands were not able to open this bag. ‘These are not senior friendly,’ he says. I know nothing more about him, but I need him to know this.”
‘Can you wipe my eyes? Can you make my tears stop?’ We sat in silence as my 90-year-old father’s tears fell. He was going to be alone for the first time in 69 years.’
“He laid his head on her chest. He kissed her and he cried. He told her how much he loved her. He said he wouldn’t trade one day of his life with her. He said he would marry her all over again. He said he will see her soon, and to hold the door for him.”
‘She looked me dead in the eye. ‘What is it? Did the man leave?’ I can tell she was scared, her face went pale. Then I called 911.’
“I remember her concentrating on a certain part of my shirt, of course, I was scared. I never made it seem as if she was alone in this journey.”
