"Sometimes giving is the best gift we can ever receive..."
Jack had gotten up and was ready to get dressed. Some days Jack's dementia was better than others. Today was not a better day for Jack. He was very confused. There was a knock at his door and a familiar face appeared. "Good morning Mr. Jack! How are you today?" The face and voice belonged to George, the care attendant who was assigned to help Jack in the morning. Even though George had only been in the country for nine years, his English was very good. In his native Liberia, George learned something very important at an early age - caring for the elderly. It was something George loved, and he was very, very good at it.
"Jack, you will not believe this" George said as he pulled on Jack's socks. "You are going to get bacon for breakfast today!" George knew that Jack loved bacon. Before his dementia robbed his speech, Jack would often tell tales of his boyhood on the farm. After a pig slaughter, he and his dad would cut and cure their own bacon. George loved hearing those stories from Jack. He could learn more about life in America from talking to residents like Jack than he ever could reading a text book.
Even though Jack could no longer talk in sentences, he still recognized the word "bacon". He looked up at George with blue eyes which still had an impish spark, and smiled. George finished getting Jack dressed and wheeled him to the cafeteria. Once Jack was at his assigned table, another young man came up and said, "Well Captain Jack - you are looking chipper today. How about a cup of mud to start you off?" Jack looked up at the young man, and with a crooked smile said "Yes" the best way he knew how. The young man brought Jack his coffee and soon Wendy sat down between Jack and another resident. Wendy's job was to help residents eat their meals.
"Jack, I have been hearing stories about you again" Wendy said as she was cutting up Jack's pancake and bacon. "Have you been chasing the girls after lights out?" When Jack first became a patient at the care center, he would tease everyone. Jack had a wonderful sense of humor and to be teased by Jack was to be teased by the best. Now that Jack is no longer able to tease, he loves it when someone teases him - and Wendy did it very well. Once Jack was finished with his breakfast, Wendy wheeled him back to his room.
This fictional story is one of tens of thousands which happen every day in care centers. People who are senior citizens that can no longer care for themselves, people who have suffered a catastrophic event in their lives, or people that have never been independent, live with care each and every day. They are cared for by very special people. These caring people are nothing less than angels. They love elderly people, sick people, people who are just plain hurting. They don't do it for the money, as the pay is very modest. Too modest. They do it because they believe in the dignity of life, no matter what stage of life people are at.
Often times when I left the care center my Mother lived in, I was humbled. I am sure there are many times the staff members were not having a good day. However, you would never know it. They just served, and did it with purpose and a smile. They were the hands and feet of Christ, even if they did not realize it.
So for Jack, Sylvia, Hank and Ruth and the countless others who are served daily by these angels, I say "thank you". Your service to the neediest of us often times goes unnoticed and unappreciated. However, please know this - you all are truly the Angels who live at trial's end...
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