Mixed emotions swirled inside me as I entered that solemn place for the first time. Feelings of sadness, despair, and agony rose within me. As I progressed through my training a profound sadness grew in me as I realized that the majority of elders no longer had family to care for them. Others made the decision to live there as they did now want to add burden to their families. Some pined for home but did not know even if their families would accept them or where their loved ones could be found. As I worked with these people I pondered what I could possibly do as a health care provider to improve their lives. I decided that each person needed a different approach. Some desired communication, a listening ear, a comforter.
Just like my patient having a case of paralysis (right side), she does not have a family anymore and even kids of her own. We had our chats after giving her a bath and took her medicines. I asked if she has siblings, she answered me with a teary eyes that her brother died two years ago and she does not know if her sister still alive for she doesn’t seen her for many years now. She lives alone in her nipa hut house at Jabongga, Surigao Del Norte (my hometown). No matter how hard it was but still she was able to survive until one day she fainted, walking alone in the street and a woman working as a government employee saw her then brought her to Butuan at home for the aged. She wanted to go home but nobody’s home and I was so deeply touched by her story for I can’t imagine myself if I were in her shoe, if I can handle it living … alone.
I asked myself then, what if I don’t have family? Who will take care of me when I grow old? Will my kids leave me here in a place like this? Are they going to abandon me too when I get sick and tired of nursing me? A lot of “what if” but one thing I am sure of that no challenge given by God is ever too much for us to handle. Behind her sad story, still, she did not blame Him of having a hard life living alone. She was living in simplicity and contented. According to her, if only she could turn back the time, still, she would choose to live in simple life with a complete happy family.
Life is a matter of choice, not a matter of chance. If you want to be happy then choose happiness. It does always be your choice. Life may let us down but we can choose whether or not to get back up.
