I wrote this story
13 years ago, but never published it. The story is from a weekend visit to a
relative in a very good nursing home. There were no misdeeds or anything close,
just what went on during the visit while we sat talking in a large open room.
The future is a scary place and this is what we have to look forward to if we
live long enough.
One woman,
suffering from dementia, sat in a chair and every time she stood up an alarm
sounded causing aides to rush over and sit her down again. She was apparently a flight risk. She had her purse
and coat ready to slip out of there, to a place unknown, possibly her home if
she even knew where it was.
Another old woman
wheeled around in her chair constantly asking where the babies were. Aides
would either not answer, or they would say, “They’re fine.” She would then tell
everyone she was cold, despite the building being at a very comfortable
temperature. She would not only ask the staff where the babies were, but even
the visiting families who would realize she was there physically, but gone
mentally so they would just turn away and continue their own conversations.
A man came in to
visit his wife who was confined to a special care unit. He would enter the
security code into the door lock and then go in and get her. He would wheel her
out into the open area and would then break out in a very good and soothing
vocal of old songs they no doubt used to listen to in their early years. She
did not even know who he was.
Another woman
would get dressed with makeup and a nice sweater and grab her purse then walk
out into the open area and sit down, waiting for someone who was going to take
her out to lunch or whatever. All of the aides knew her and would say hello to
her, but she would just sit there and look at them as if they were total
strangers.
One man was a
World War Two veteran. He marched up and down the halls barking out orders to
invisible subordinates. He did this all day and night. He did not know where he
was, but he was reliving WWII.
This is what we
have to look forward to if we live long enough.
