Saturday, June 14, 2008

Two angels came to tell me the meaning

On Wednesday, two angels came to the nursing home.

After the morning church service, I noticed two people were at the back side of the room and smiling at me. There were not the residents, but the family of a resident. The resident (Mr. A)'s sister and nephew. They were there to wait for me and listen to my story about Mr. A. Mr. A has been an unstable state. One day he is so clear and willing to talk and another day he is so emotional, and other day seems so sleepy, not in a chatting mood at all. The family were from Florida and had to go back there the next day so it was their last day to talk with him. They said, on Tuesday, he was very fine and they very much enjoyed time together. So they brought family pictures and some food on Wednesday, expecting having more fun with him. But he was not in a good mood that day, which made them disappointed. They couldn't leave there because it was their last they being there. So they wanted to know about his days there. They waited for me because, they said, Mr. A mentioned me as a person who is nice to him. I was so glad that he remembered my existence.

I told them things I talked with him. He told me that he went to the university in Alabama, and went to a law school in NY. He loves reading books. He professions law so he wants to be a law counselor at the nursing home. He told me about his parents who immigrated from Ireland. I told him that my friend recently stayed in Ireland to learn English and saw the parade on St. Patrick Day. On memorial day, I talk with him so I asked him what people usually do on Memorial day, or if there is a special parade or not. The next week of the conversation, he got isolated in his room due to rash appearing his skin. Since then I hadn't met him. He cried sometimes, claiming some nurses were not kind to him (might be his misunderstanding or because of his down mood though).

They seemed to appreciate what I did with him. They showed their family pictures. All of them were so beautiful.

Then they wanted to hear my own story. They asked me why I'm here. I told them the reason I'm here. I have several experiences with the elderly in musical scenes, in church, or in my childhood. I told them how I became to have loves toward them, how I restarted to learn English language, how I became interested in NY, how I became to want to listen to people's stories, especially elderly people's.

And also I told them my anxieties, like, sometimes I feel like I'm doing nothing here because I'm not a medical professional.....

Then the sister said, "Blessing!" The sister said, "you are doing the most important thing here. People here are so lucky to have you here. So is my uncle."

They cherish my presence at the nursing home. I also realized how important our job is. The sister said, "When you talk with the person face to face. That's wonderful."

I promised them that if I got anything new about him I would let them know.

I thought they were angels sent by God to let me know the meaning of my being here. I was so delighted with it. I want to listen to more stories from my dear people there.

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