It was around 8:30 am on a busy Monday morning when a senior man in his 80s came into our medical office to have about a dozen stitches removed from his thumb. He let us know that he was in a rush since he had another appointment just a half an hour later at 9:00 am. I checked his vital signs and then asked him to take a seat in the waiting room, knowing that we were so busy, it would be at least 45 minutes before a doctor could see him. When I saw the man checking his watch just a few minutes later, I decided to check his wound myself since I wasn’t busy with another patient at the moment. On examination, I could see that the gentleman’s thumb was well healed, so I consulted with one of the physicians who asked me to gather the necessary supplies to remove the sutures myself and put on a new bandage. As I worked, the elderly patient and I began chatting. I inquired about his next appointment, since the man was in such a hurry. The gentleman explained that his appointment was at a nearby nursing home where he ate breakfast with his wife every morning at 9:00 am. When I asked about his wife’s health, he told me that she had Alzheimer’s disease and that she’d been living at the home for a few years. I wondered aloud whether she’d be worried about him if he were a few minutes late for breakfast. The kindly man with the healing thumb admitted that his wife no longer knew him and hadn’t even recognized him in several years. Surprised, I blurted out: “And you still have breakfast with her every morning, despite the fact that she doesn’t even know who you are?” The gentleman smiled at me, patted my hand and replied: “She may not remember me, but I still know who she is.” It was all I could do not to cry. After the man left our office, I still had goose bumps on my arms and thought, “I hope I have that kind of love in my life someday.” I realized then and there that true love is not just physical or romantic.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 19:35:31 +0000
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