I got into a conversation with a close friend who is employed at a local nursing facility.
Her job is to insure that residents follow their specialized dietary plans.
For example, some residents aren't permitted to have salt while others eat blended meals.
My friend told me about a meal tray that was returned to the kitchen yesterday.
It came back with all of its food on it because the resident had passed away.
I shared a similar story with my friend.
Many years ago, I delivered our local morning paper for additional income.
My last stop was a nursing facility.
On average, I had about ten daily subscribers.
Nearly every month, I would get at least one cancelled subscription at the nursing facility.
Canceled subscriptions usually meant that a resident had died.
At times, I felt moments of sadness.
Although I didn't know them personally, I knew their names.
To me, a newspaper is just a paper; to the residents...
it meant more.
Residents looked forward to their daily paper because it was their main link to news from the outside world.
To residents in a nursing facility, newspapers and meal trays are a way of life.
I told my friend that we view nursing facilities as a place of employment and nothing more.
To the residents who live there, it is home.
Most residents know the nursing facility is their final destination.
After living a full life, there will be no more getaway trips or long vacations on the beach.
I have heard people express their fears of aging.
To combat the aging process, people spend millions of dollars on plastic surgery, creams, drugs and anything else to maintain their youth.
Ask anyone about nursing facilities and they will tell you that they would never live in one.
They believe nursing facilities are nothing more than a place for the old; a place for people to die...
being young and enjoying life seems miles away from greeting death in a wheelchair or surviving on blended meals.
No one envisions wearing an adult diaper, dentures or suffering from Alzheimer's.
We don't know what the future holds.
Our health may decline to a point where we will no longer be able to care for ourselves requiring us to move into an assisted care facility.
For now, if you have good health and live in your own home, be sure to take a few moments to thank your creator.