I Cried Today

I work a lot with people in nursing homes. Many of my patients suffer from Alzheimer's and dementia.
I provided a custom manual wheelchair for a woman today with Alzheimer's. She was so happy when her shiny red new wheelchair showed up. Then she called me a poo poo head. She yelled at me for a moment complaining about the food. on her table. (there was nothing on the table)

I just smiled at her..... and she smiled back thinking I was her son. She spoke of things when her son was a child....saying them to me assuming I would remember...

She kept calling my Jerry. I fitted her for the chair dialing it in so that it was optimized for her. After 45 minutes or so I was done and got ready to leave.

I patted her hand and wished her well and she asked me to get the "white thing" on her dresser. I complied. She handed it back to me and said that it was a gift for me to remember her by.... since she couldn't remember who she was. It was a little plastic key ring in the shape of the number one. Probably worth ten cents. I hugged her and thanked her for my gift.

I walked out of her room in the nursing home and quickly stepped into the bathroom and sank to my knees, face in hand.... Crying over the beauty of this kind act by this woman whose mind and life are nearing the end.