Old Age, From Youth’s Narrow Prism by Dr. Marc E. Agronin
The old woman had drawn down the shade in her room — hoping, I imagined, to stop the midday Miami sun from penetrating her grief. But the sun still hit the window full force and illuminated the shade like a Chinese lantern.
She sat silently in a wheelchair, her 93-year-old silhouette stooped in the bathing light. I entered, held her hand for a moment and introduced myself. “Sit down, doctor,” she said politely. (more…)
originally appeared in the NY Times, February 13, 2009
Increasingly, many older people who live alone are not truly alone. They are being watched by a flurry of new technologies designed to enable them to live independently and avoid expensive trips to the emergency room or nursing homes.
Bertha Branch, 78, discovered the power of a system called eNeighbor when she fell to the floor of her Philadelphia apartment late one night without her emergency alert pendant and could not phone for help.
A wireless sensor under Ms. Branch’s bed detected that she had gotten up. Motion detectors in her bedroom and bathroom registered that she had not left the area in her usual pattern and relayed that information to a central monitoring system, prompting a call to her telephone to ask if she was all right. When she did not answer, that incited more calls — to a neighbor, to the building manager and finally to 911, which dispatched firefighters to break through her door. She had been on the floor less than an hour when they arrived. (more…)
I was sent the story I am about to share and I always give credit to the author but I have no idea who wrote this beautiful piece. It brought tears to my eyes which is not why I am sharing but rather that I hope it helps each of us to reach out to others. As you read this story remember that people may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.
“I arrived at the address where someone had requested a taxi. I honked but no one came out. I honked again, nothing. So I walked to the door and knocked. ‘Just a minute’, answered a frail, elderly voice. (more…)
This is a video of Dr. Marion Somers. Her website is: http://www.drmarion.com/ . I have been and will continue to post her videos as they are each only one minute long. During her one minute video you learn alot and for me it creates reminders of similar scenarios I went through with my mom and dad. Given a choice, 82% of seniors would prefer to live in their own home rather than being moved to an assisted living community. My mother and father both ended up in the hospital on the same day. The prospect of bringing them both home in wheelchairs was overwhelming. This is where all (more…)
Being at the bedside of a dying person is a profound and often life-changing experience. It was for me. I got to know more about my dad and who he was as he was dying than in all of the previous years he was alive. Having had a traditional fear of dying, I was not prepared for the honesty and raw emotion that comes with helping a person die “well”. In the end, it was the hospice people that showed us incredible grace and compassion. I am forever grateful for their dedication to families like mine.
It was with great interest that I read the following article from today’s NY Times, about the new breed of non-denominational hospice chaplains. They are true heroes and deserves our deep admiration. I hope you enjoy the story: (more…)
Get ready for our roving reporters, Sam and Sadie Silver, as they span the globe looking for interesting and fun senior news!
