A good day at work

So after posting my "bad day at work", I thought I'd follow it up with a good day. As mentally and emotionally hard as this job can be, it is very rewarding. I often wonder the purpose of the lives of these residents who are gone mentally or in so much pain or who have been abused and abandoned. Many of them seem to be in a state of innocense now and therefore are not held accountable. I have come to believe they are here for us, for family, friends and total strangers who need to learn patience and to see how we treat them. Just like children, they lose their ability to reason and can be very demanding, mean, and annoying. But they can also be loving, sweet and hilarious. They teach me so much, even if its because they are demanding, I learn to be patient. These are amazing people who have done amazing things with thier ordinary lives. I go home everyday grateful to shower myself, feed myself and communicate easily my needs and wants. Most people who walk in our door say, "oh man, I hope thats not me in the future. If Im like that, please shoot me." I have come to hate this saying, are we not to "endure to the end" and "press forward"? Should we not be encouraging these people and telling them they have a purpose? And what if that really was going to be you in the future, how would that change your life now? I hope this answers some of your questions that I am often asked about working in a nursing home. Its interesting to hear people reactions because they often give one of two reactions. 1. oh, I could never do that, how can you see people like that. (how can you not? are we just to ignore the growing population of elderly and sick?) and 2. Oh, how wonderful, that must be a "feel good" job. (yes it is but it is also very draining).

Well, here is picture of me and a resident before the Valentine's Ball this year. She is mentally retarted and has been institutionalized her entire life with no permanent family. Thus, she becomes VERY attacted to staff and often gets angry, sad and depressed when someone leaves. She felt so beautiful this night because she was all dressed up and had her hair done. My friend caught this picture of the two of us practicing blowing kisses, in case she won the title of Valentine's Queen (which she did, and cried when her name was called).