One of the down sides to working with the elderly is death. But, that's a fact that cannot be ignored. When we experience the death of a loved one in our personal lives, we often seek out and surround ourselves with our friends and family. When death is experienced in our professional lives, it can be an uneasy situation for many. Some work environments are not conducive to emotional support when it comes to these times. But when you work with the elderly, chances are your professional and personal lives start to intertwine.
At, Verra Spring, where I currently work, we have such an environment. We each have our own lives outside of work, but while we are at work we are definitely a family. Yes, we have our arguments and differences like every other family, but we work through them because we are all there for the same goal. And to our residents, we are family in many ways. Some of them do not have family nearby. Some of them do not have family at all. So, we become that family for them. And not only for our residents, but for their families too. Just knowing that we are caring for their loved ones as if they are our own does give a sense of comfort to many of our residents' relatives.
I bring this up because yesterday we learned that one of our former residents passed away over the weekend. Over the years, she had a series of strokes, which is how she ended up in assisted living in the first place. She couldn't communicate verbally very well, but each of us made the effort to figure out what she needed and for the most part, we were able to communicate with her. Gradually the level of skilled care that she needed increased to the point that she was relocated to another facility. We didn't want to see her go and she didn't want to leave, but every one knew it was the best thing for her. And for several months, she thrived in her new home.
She had another stroke last Wednesday and went down hill quickly, leaving this life behind on Saturday. And yesterday, her children came to VS to personally let us know that she was gone. They took the time to thank us individually for the care we had given their mother. And these two took great care of their mom as well. One of them was there every day with her at VS. But it meant a lot to us for them to come and let us know. We weren't just family to their mom but to them as well. And that's what family does in times like this.
Whether or not I run into them again in this life, we will always be connected by their mom. And I cherish that.
Just A Waiter :)
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