Tales from a nursing home

I feel like I am having to play a little catch up in this journal. I have already experienced so much that I want to share. As most of you know, I am currently a speech therapist in a nursing home facility. Now, you don't have to make any confession, but I am positive I am not the only one who avoided "nursing home visits" with the church youth group growing up. For some reason, it was never a ministry opportunity most of us looked forward to (Sharing the gospel in line at Six Flags over Dallas, on the other hand- I was all over that). When I told one of my dear friends that I was working in a nursing home, the first thing she asked was "Does it smell bad?" So funny, and so true, because that was one of the major things I was worried about when I was about to step into that facility for the first time (and just to clear the curiosity- no, it doesn't smell).

But, as in any ministry opportunity, we usually go in thinking we are gone save the world and the world usually ends up saving us. This case is no exception. I have learned so many valuable life lessons working in the nursing home thus far. Some funny, some endearing, but none the less all worthy of passing on. Here are the top ten things I have learned from being in a nursing home on a day to day basis:

1. It's the little things that make a big smile. I walked through the dining room and there was a man sitting at the table. Now you have to envision this man. I think he has always been special because of his facial features, and he has the biggest ears you have ever seen. He is very cartoon like. But this day he had the biggest smile on his face, because in the middle of July, he had found a black paper top hat that said, "Happy New Year." He looked like he had just won the lottery.
2. No matter how old you get and what quits working properly, you always have Bingo. I was doing therapy and my patient said, "IT'S TIME FOR BINGO!!!!" She looked panicked, so we had to adjourn the session and pick up after Bingo was over.
3. It is perfectly acceptable to tell someone "I love you" even if you've only seen their face in the hallway everyday, met them for 15 minutes, or just helped them sit up in bed one time. In fact, it's rude not to.
4. Road rage does exist in nursing home hallways with wheelchair's. I tried to pass one little lady while I was pushing my patient to therapy. The driver got perturbed and waved her fist in the air at me and mouthed at me. I think she was about to flip me off, but I assured her we were merely trying to pass her and not run her over.
5. Wheelchair's can be dangerous tools. One lady used her electric power wheelchair to bump into the facility bird cage, setting several birds loose all over the home.
6. You never know where a person has been or what they've accomplished. When hearing I was from Arkansas, one of my patients said, "Oh, the best friend I ever had was from Arkansas." Just to make conversation, I asked who it was. His reply? Sam Walton. I confirmed it with his family and it is true. And he helped Mr. Walton start the whole Walmart business.
7. No matter how old you get, you are never above a good catfight. I recently had to separate two ladies from a swinging match. One was demented, one wasn't, but the excitement of a good fight was there all the same!
8. Always watch your back. I was doing paperwork at my desk and all of the sudden I heard the sound of chopping teeth about 5 inches from my shoulders. If I hadn't of turned around, one of the residents was about to take a bite out of crime.
9. Families of people in nursing homes crave support. You do not have to know someone long to be a source of comfort. And you can only know someone for less than a week and still need to cry with them for thirty minutes when they are loosing their loved one.
10. God is always a good motivator. One little lady always said that the good Lord was going to help her get better. Yet she wouldn't work in therapy. So I found myself, desperate to get her to work, starting a prayer in the middle of a therapy session asking the Lord to help her to work. She was complaining the whole time I was praying, and yes, I did stop and tell her that it was rude to complain while someone was talking to God. Please don't judge me. I was desperate.