We have completed our move to a total care facility. We wear a call button, and people are available to assist us in any way 24/7. It is a new care facility to the west of Reno, and we are settling in. But I would like this paper to be about the people that have helped us and continue to do so. All this would be impossible without their help and guidance.
We are not who we were and do not have the sight, hearing, and strength we were once blessed with. But a team of people surrounded us, took our hands, and helped us to where we needed to go and be. This is an entirely new experience for us. For most of our lives, we did for others, and now others do for us, and we are grateful. Now, it’s time to contemplate what this experience is teaching us.
If we live long enough, we will need help in many ways. As others have said, and I agree, “Old Age Sucks.” How can anyone feel pleased with diminishing eyesight, hearing, strength, and the rest? I admit to taking those things for granted because I never thought of a “long life” and a “good life” as a senior citizen. I thought we lived and died. Yet, the problems are many if you, like us, are blessed (or cursed) with a long life.
When one has overseen their own life, they rarely can anticipate their own care and that they will need others. Still, remarkable people have come to our aid and given themselves in ways full of kindness and love. They saw what needed to be done and took charge, all with great sensitivity.
We regard them as family who are there for each other. But what of those without family? That realization leads me to believe that Lenette and I may be two of the luckiest people on the planet.
