One was grumpy, one looked like she was here, but really was in space, and two had tears.
I never could get grumpy one to cheer up. She has a strong sense on entitlement and thought that she should have health care coverage without having to do any of the leg work to get it. I run into this alot. People with chronic disease who are mad at the fact that they can't get their meds or see a doctor. These resources ARE available to them, they just are too lazy to jump through all the hoops to get the care they need. If I hear one more smoker tell me that their medicines are too expensive I think I will scream...their meds cost much less than what they spend on their cigarettes!!!!
The other one was in space, or wherever her dementia led her too. The problem was that at one point in her life she had a beautiful face lift and tattooed makeup done. She looks YEARS younger than her age. Add to the fact that she could kind of cover up her confusion, it was really difficult for me to be able make sense of what I was seeing versus what was really going on beneath the surface. I guess that is one of the down sides of plastic surgery. If you have really good work done to disguise your age, you may not get all the help you need because people will have a hard time believing that you are an old lady under all that beauty.
One had tears because she had just recently found her son dead on her couch. He had been on disability for years for depression and a work injury. We see a lot of that, then he just died. She described her son as perfect model citizen, who was honest and kind, and perfect. She must have used the word perfect to describe her son at least a dozen times. She also described his recliner that he sat in all day watching his HUGE TV. Somehow to me that doesn't seem like a perfect son, but to her he was, so I listened and wiped her tears.
The other was crying because of memories from the past. Sometimes I almost think alcoholism can be justified. With tearsstreaming down his face he shared his story with me. Drafted in his country's army one year shy of completing his degree to be a doctor; he spent the rest of his career in the army, never getting to do what he truly wanted to do in life. He says he smelled the terrible smell of death, a smell he will never forget. He says he saw so many horrible things. He was careful to tell me that he never killed anyone, he was too afraid of what his God would do to him had he killed another human being. His heart was broken from the evil that he witnessed for so long. He was able to come to the US ten years ago and has drowned his sorrows in alcohol and cigarettes. His family stands by him. All of his children have finished college, one is a practicing lawyer. This man attends church weekly and credits Christ for his life, he could not wait to be released so that he could go straight to church, but I fear he'll go straight for the vodka after services.
