How many individuals live out their days alone, in a dark home, without family? How many waste away in a nursing home, quarantined by their family, out of sight, and out of mind, only remembered on Christmas and birthdays? Most cultures throughout history cherished their elders, looking to them for guidance, or at least with a respectful measure of regard. My own earliest memories are of visits to the local nursing home in Weed, CA. Yes, Christmas brought the expected caroling, and the atonal murmurs of a childrens choir; however, my mother would visit faithfully, sometimes several days a week, to love on and minister to dozens of elderly men and women who seldom - if ever - received visitors (My own great-grandmother lived on her own into her late nineties, and visited the local nursing home to lead Bible studies and minister to the old men and women there in their seventies). I cannot describe the love and care my Mom had for those elder citizens, some of whom rejected her. Many, though, were not only encouraged by her, but received the only light in their latter years from a kind woman with a generous heart. One man I remember, Vince Vaughn, was a veteran from WWII and the Battle of Iwo Jima, and his stories inspired my love of history just as much as my own grandfathers tales. How many heroes die a lonely, painful death, forgotten from history and the people they fought to protect? Not all heroes are memorialized at the Tome of the Unknown Soldier. All it takes is a kind word, a warm hug, and a sliver of time to encourage and give life to a forgotten and ailing member of our society. I encourage you to read this story!!! Thank you Mom for teaching me to love the unloved, sharing Christs love and forgiveness, and to search for the unwanted within our own country. I love you Donna Sanders =)
Posted on: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 02:28:55 +0000