ONE HUG AT A TIME…

ONE HUG AT A TIME….

Several things have become less common that it was years go… One of those is hugs..  Especially with the elderly.  If you have ever working in a nursing home over the years.. you know there is hardly ever any hugging going on.  Even family to family..  And for those who are elderly, and alone.. no family left.. it is even worse.

While working in the HEALTH CARE CENTER… better know to those of us older ones… as nursing homes…  They changed the name to soften up the harness of what nursing homes mean to the older generation.   Nursing homes.. the place you go to die. I had hear that so many times over the years that I worked in one.

I didn’t give it much thought.. until one night while  I was working..  I had taken a woman and put her on the commode.  As I raised her to put her back to bed.. I held her a little bit longer than normal.. AND  SHE HUNG ON.. WE WERE HUGGING… I never dreamt how much it meant to her.   So I did it to a few others… that I would be in a position to hold them as I transferred from the bed or to the bed..  It was an amazing feeling…. For both of us.. 

Working the noc shift..  which some called the graveyard shift… I found that the human touch is lacking a great deal for our elderly… Working the late shift gave me the time to take a few seconds out .. to a minute or two… to show just some compassion.  One man, who I had laid back down, then covered him over with the blanket..  for some reason, I bent over and kissed him on his forehead and told him good night.  As I started to walk away from the bed… he whispered..  thank you.

We forget .. how much the human touch means.. and especially to our elderly, who no one seems to remember they too, want to be held.

It only takes a second.. to hug, to give a gentle kiss on the cheek.. or even say something about how nice someone looks that day.   I can remember I was walking back to my car after getting the mail from the post office.  A woman, got out of a car and started towards me, when I noticed what a beautiful green dress she had on… and how great it looked on her.. and with out thought, I told this stranger, how beautiful she looked in her green dress.  She was a little startled at first, (as we had never seen each other before or since) but then she said THANK YOU.. and kind of blushed..  and a huge smile..   

IT JUST TAKES A SECOND..   ONE HUG AT A TIME..  some kind words…   Let’s be kinder to each other.