As a nurse…I have had many patients…some I remember…and many I don’t…there was one home health patient several years ago who will forever stick out in my mind…even though…I don’t recall her name…
She was elderly and disoriented…she was confused most of the time…which made teaching her about her breathing treatments…and diabetic diets…challenging at best…
The interesting thing is…she knew that she was confused…she knew things weren’t right…she struggled to make some sense of it…
One day when I arrived…she brought out some memorabilia for me to examine…as best I can recall…she had her driver’s license…expired…I hope…a picture of her with her twin sister when they graduated from high school…some 60 years earlier…and a cookbook from her home town…that included pictures of businesses, Churches, and schools…
Now…all of this was very distracting…I had a schedule to keep…I had tasks to perform…but…she was very insistent…that we look at each item…and let her tell me about them…and we did…
It may seem strange…that I would recall such a seemingly unimportant event…all these years later…well…it wasn’t what she did that made me remember…it was what she said…
She said that she wanted me to look at these things…because…she wanted somebody to really know her before she died…
Yeah…that’ll make you forget about your tasks and schedules…when nothing else will…as I recall…we took a while to discuss each of her life pieces…
In looking back at that day…I’m not so sure if it was me…or herself…that she wanted to really know who she was…I think it was her…I think she wanted to remember who she was…and why she mattered…I think I was just there to help her do that…
Bertha says that truly knowing who we are…is what all of us really want…and I think she’s right…I know that the more I get in touch with myself…and live my truth…the more satisfied I am with my life…
Not a small lesson…taught by one the world saw as confused…
Jane
The best one yet.
ReplyDeleteThis one hit me right in the heart... in the good way.
ReplyDeleteI've spent the last 34 years trying to get back to who I am. I've been questioning lately why it's so easy for us (well some of us anyway) to give up who we really are... why do we so easily let ourselves go in favor of external validation from others...
Hmmm... I may jump off of this and do a blog post about it... :)
Thanks, Betty!
ReplyDeleteJenn...the theme seems to keep coming up for me as well...just peeling the layers off! I look forward to your blog on the subject!
It's like the biggest damn onion I've ever had the pleasure of peeling... and by pleasure I mean sometimes-fun-but-sometimes-the-hardest-freakin-thing-ever-in-life...
ReplyDeleteI actually see 2012 as being HUGE. HUGE!
Jenn...we're in the same kitchen...tearing up at times...but...getting it done...LOL
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see your HUGE 2012...I know it is going to be exciting for all of us!
Nothing like a good heart-felt cry on Sunday morning :)
ReplyDeleteI think we all need a constant reminder that it is the 'I' in me who must first be accepted and validated-then our life can truely begin.
And...they are your rules-you decide if and when they have been broken.
The best of Sunday morning to you Jane.
Bea...you are so right...we all need to be accepted and validated...
DeleteThanks for always validating and accepting me!