"Just Begin - One, One, One."

As I readied myself and prepared the comfort of my home for the freezing temperature last night, I couldn't help thinking about the elderly who live alone, particularly those who suffer from some form of dementia. Once in bed, I tossed and turned with thoughts occupying all corners of my mind.  "...Will they remember how to adjust their thermostats? ...Will they remember to bring their pets inside? ...What if tonight is the night the stage of "wondering-off" decides to roar it's ugly head?  ...What if, ...What if, ...What if???   And then, in the precise order as always -as if one could not live without the other- the HOW COULD's take their turn.  "...How could a child not check on his/her parent who raised and scraficed for him/her, and at least make sure their warm and ok?  ...How could a child say they love their parent/parents tremendously, but yet that same love doesn't move them to any form of action?  I don't know the answer and believe me, throughout the years as a nurse, I have been offered many.  Many more than I have ever cared to hear, and even more that would have been best- in my opinion- simply, left unsaid!  Such as, "You don't understand, my job requires so much of my time! ...You have no idea what type of mother she was/wasn't to me!"  And, of course there's the one I call, THE KILLER:  "She is just "putting-on" for attention, so that we (siblings) will stick around here more; But what she doesn't realize is that it's only going to land her in a nursing home, if she doesn't stop!"  ...LAND HER IN A NURSING HOME???  But, hang-on that's not even the "killing part" of the conversation!  The "killing part" is the fact that it was purposely said with the parent standing there, while the child looked directly into her eyes!  Talk about cruelty of the worse kind, there is no justification for such words or actions (or non-actions for that matter) regardless of what took place in the past.  It is just that: THE PAST!  Parenting comes with no how-to-handbook, and as my Grandmother would say, "No amount of wrong or right will change what has already taken place, ONLY LOVE!"  As humans we are not perfect, and the truth is that it is by the Grace of God that we haven't all been punished to the degree in which we all deserve, anyway: Something to think about the next time we decide we are in a postion to administer justice, huh?

Needless to say, I did eventually fall asleep, Although it hasn't always been that easy for me.  I am learning and excepting, through the advice of many people who care about me, that stressing myself out about things beyond my control, will only lead to self-destruction. I realize I can't save the world- God already sent the saviour to do that!  But, there are 2 things I can do- which help to give me comfort- and that is to Pray and to do my part.  If we all do this maybe we won't have to turn on the morning news, just as we did not so very long ago (Christmas Blizzard)- and hear about the elderly person found frozen to death, in the snow, after falling several days prior!  I plan to do my part, for as long as I can, for whomever I can.  ...WILL YOU?

   “I never look at the masses as my responsibility; I look at the individual. I can only love one person at a time - just one, one, one. So you begin. I began - I picked up one person. Maybe if I didn't pick up that one person, I wouldn't have picked up forty-two thousand . The same thing goes for you, the same thing in your family, the same thing in your church, your community. Just begin - one, one, one.”                            -Mother Teresa of  Calcutta