Nursing Homes, Continued..

Name: Beauty Queens Visit at Comfort Care Homes
Type: Service
Date: September 09, 2016

I've been a volunteer with HopeWest Hospice Care for over a year now, but yesterday's experience was one which was completely worthy of writing about. We went to a nursing home which I'd gone to last many months ago up in the Redlands to paint the ladies' nails and do a facial for them, and to generally speak with them and ask the about their days. Well, yesterday I noticed one of the ladies and invited her to come get a facial, and she told me yea, she remembered how this worked from last time we were here. It turned out that she was the very same lady I'd gotten last time we came to that nursing home which I'd liked so much, and here she was again. I hadn't recognized her, but she'd recognized me! I was ecstatic. After doing her facial to the best of my abilities, I gave her a hug and walked her to the backyard so she could go outside for a little bit. It's this kind of super-bonding moments that I live for, the fact that two individuals from two completely different worlds could and should interact together for the mutually beneficial effect their encounter has on both of them.

I wonder if I should return to the nursing home to visit with this lady again just for the fun of it. I know that not a lot of people visit those in their old age, which is something that particularly concerns me, because I know that in the culture I come from elders are typically expected to be taken care of by their children even unto their death. Nursing homes are a concept not very heard of on Ecuador. I understand that sometimes the heavy needs of the elderly could be burdensome on the working individual, specially in America where the culture has it so that families easily disperse to different corners of the country from the rest of their families in pursuit of their financial security, but the company of their family should be almost indispensable for any individual. People crave other's company, and will always have a need for it, even if they deny it.

I also question the morality of my opinions given the fact that my family also lives far away from the rest of our family (my grandparents included). Should I also call my grandparents (and my family) more often? If I am troubled by this problem in my volunteering and in the world, I should first aim to address it in my daily life...