More Than Fine

I owe my CNA instructors a LOT, especially because of how they fostered a sense of humor in us about what we would see once we were actually working. It's why I notice and appreciate the moments when:
The patient with memory loss says the last year he can remember is 2004....no wait....2007.

The sweet little old lady with a closet full of sparkly shoes and hair extensions lets a swear word fly.

When two ladies in wheelchairs will not move for each other in the hallway, resulting in them both
sitting and staring at each other.

When I walk past a room and see that a patient is confused and thinks he's in his room when he's not, and begins to throw all the belongings of the actual resident into the hallway.

When the same patient tells me she's a baptist each time I enter her room.

When my blind patient insists I feed her even though she can feed herself.

When the sweetest elderly lady in the world gets agitated at sundown and insists someone is under her bed and I bend down to check for the umpteenth time.

Despite the fact that this list makes it sound like nursing home residents are hard to deal with, it's not really true. They're in a weird space of reality. They aren't children. They observe many of the conventions of adulthood. They tell me to be careful when I leave at night. They grin at me constantly. They tell me how to best care for them. They wish me success. They love each other. They learn to communicate in ways other than speech. They have adapted to many changes and losses and I admire them GREATLY for that. Imagine waking up somewhere and not knowing anyone..not knowing where you are and why you aren't at home. Would you be consolable? I don't think I would be. I think I'd throw a fit every day until I fell into exhausted sleep, yet these people accept their reality when I tell them my name and where they are. They put up with a constant stream of different people doing all sorts of undignified things to them. Yet they smile. They ask about my life. They say it's good to meet me. They aren't just old people. They are grace personified.