We Will Not Let This Get in Our Way

Once a month, three to four residents and two of us from SpiritCare gather for conversation in a lovely assisted living home.  This coming together has been going on for a couple of years.  It is not Bible study, although I often pick a passage from the Bible, or some other source to read at the beginning of our time together.  I treasure this time.  The residents are quite outspoken, and it takes little encouragement to get them to talk about the challenges and the blessings of trying to faithfully grow older in body and mind.  I am often reminded that the journey is not easy, even in beautiful surroundings.   

One of the residents has been struggling with memory loss, and with that challenge comes other issues, including depression.  Her parents were evidently very affectionate, and she misses not only their warmth, but also the love of her husband who passed years ago.  She brings up this longing often.  We have indeed hugged many times, but the memory does not carry over from month to month.  We must renew those vows each time.   

  

Today after our closing prayers, we stood to hug once more.  Olga went to Pat to hug her, but had forgotten that she was walking with her ever present walker.  Olga set it aside saying, "We shall not let this get in our way."  She gave Pat a warm hug, then reached for her walker once more, and they walked out of the room together.   

  

That is the challenge, of course.  To not let the walkers, the wheelchairs, the illnesses, and the medication get in the way of reaching out to one another and finding the common ground.  As the volunteer and I skirted around a group gathering at the elevator to go downstairs for lunch, we heard a resident complain about how long it was taking.  Olga joined them, looked up to see us, smiled, and then replied, "Do you need a hug?"     

   

Radical.  

  

Blessed be.