Sunday, January 4, 2015

The Encourager of Kindness

I was shopping at Costco last Sunday, buying more than I ever intended, when I bumped into my aunt's caregiver.  It was her day off and she had my aunt's loneliness on her mind.  My aged aunt lives in a nursing home and she told me that my aunt had few visitors over the last couple of weeks.  With her enthusiastic encouragement, I promised that I  would come for a visit in the coming week.  We visited on Friday afternoon.  There was a big sign outside her unit warning visitors of respiratory infections within.  Residents could not leave the unit and visitors must be sure of their own good health status when visiting.

My aunt has been confined to a wheelchair for several years and suffers from deafness.  It is frustrating for her to carry on a friendly conversation with other people.  The ambient noise prevents her from hearing anyone clearly.  She looks into the middle distance in boredom.  She looked very pretty when we visited.  The caregiver had just done up her hair and put on a fresh coat of nail polish.  When my husband and I sat down to chat, she ignored me at first and then looked up in surprise to see us visiting.  It was quiet in her room so we could chat more easily and the time flew buy.  When we got up to leave, my aunt said to me "I have enjoyed every single minute of this visit" 

I had not been planning a special visit to her this week but her very caring attendant encouraged me to see my lonely aunt and she made all the difference to my aunt and to me.  The caregiver's kindness had brought out the better me.

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