My granddaughter and I were talking about my mother in the Nursing home.

Why have you not been to visit her recently I asked her. She responded: “Grandma Pat does not recognize me. I’ve grown so much and she just doesn’t recognize me.”

I was really not on my toes in providing her with a good response.

Since that conversation I recalled a story about a man and a different nursing home:

This man was at a doctor’s appointment and since the doctor was running late, the man kept checking his watch.

“Do you have another appointment?” He was asked

“Yes” he told them. “I go to the nursing home to be with my wife for lunch every day.”

“She must love that and really look forward to the time together,” one of the nurses exclaimed.

“No , not really, she doesn’t remember who I am,” He told them.

“Why do you go then?” He was asked.

“BEcause I remember her.”

In that one sentence this man speaks of responsibility and great love!

If I could I would remind the loved ones of all those who are now living their final days in a tiny room with very few of their personal earthly possessions and fewer still of their own furnishings.

I would say to the children, to the great grandchildren and grandchildren… “Go and visit, because you remember her/him and later on a few years from now you will look back and be ever so glad you went!

Your regrets are not nice things to live with.

It is not about your comfort, it is about love and responsibility and putting others first.

And even if you only visit for two hours out of a month, that is approximately two out of 720, hours.

Or if you went for an hour every week, that is still only one hour our of 168 hours.

Such a wee speck of time!

My thoughts…

Ellie Braun-Haley ellie@evrcanada.com