WARMS MY HEART…

When writing our second book, The Caregiver Organizer for MY Aging Parent, we did a lot of research into caregiving for older adults. (By the way, click HERE to purchase. Yes, shameless plug!) And even now, as a way to inform and enlighten people who “like” our Facebook page, I post articles about caregiving. (So click HERE to get to our FB page. You know, just in case you’d like to see what’s going on there and want to “like” us! Haha, another shameless plug? Yep!) Throughout this research for the book and for articles, I have come across SO MANY stories about elder abuse and caregivers who take advantage of their caregivees and patients.

So today I wanted to tell you about something I witnessed yesterday in a doctor’s building that warmed my heart.

An elderly woman with a walker was getting in the elevator with her obviously hired caregiver. (How do I know she was hired? It was just obvious. Uniform, different skin color, taking her to a doctor’s appointment. You know…) The caregiver was speaking very softly to her, then out of the blue, she gently swept the woman’s bangs to the side. Not that they were in her eyes, but more of a, “let’s make them pretty for the doctor” adjustment. As the elevator door opened, I heard the caregiver tell the woman that when they sit down, she has a story to tell her. She was so patient as she waited for the woman to turn to the left towards the doctor’s office. She didn’t try to hurry her. I wanted to keep those elevator doors open longer, but I almost felt like I was intruding. That simple gesture with the bangs and the way she spoke to her actually gave me a lump in my throat, and believe me, it takes a lot to choke me up. (Ask Melissa, I’m just not an emotional person!)

That is how a caregiver should be. That elderly woman, and her family, is so lucky to have found her. I haven’t stopped thinking of them since I saw them yesterday morning. I wish I had said something to her, the caregiver. I was in awe of how well she was taking care of her patient, whom I’m sure she didn’t view as a patient at all.

So to all the caregivers out there who do their jobs well, I take my hat off to you. And to the woman I saw yesterday. Bravo! Anyone who can get me choked up deserves a standing ovation!

Karen