There’s the NEED to be in assisted living, only that the ELDERLY disagrees with the idea, so, WHAT, can the family do??? NOTHING! Translated…
A short while ago, as I read the article, “Head of the Class of a Nursing Home”, it’d reminded me of an incident that happened, where my husband helped save the life of an elderly man when he was out on his walks.
That night, it was 12 degrees Celsius out, my husband went out for his nightly stroll, on the way home, he saw someone waving at him; he’d walked closer, saw it was an elderly man, in the icy cold winds, he was only wearing a short sleeve shirt plus a pair of shorts, he was shivering and quivering in the cold. The elderly said that his last name is Wang, that he’d gone out early in the morn, but couldn’t manage to find his way back home again, and couldn’t clearly tell my husband where he lived or what his phone number was.
My husband counted, that Grandpa Wang had been wandering for at least twelve hours now, he’d taken him to a nearby super convenience shop, bought him a hot drink to warm him up, then, he’d called the police station. A very short while later, the police, along with an ambulance arrived, Grandpa Wang was taken to the hospital, because of his lowered glucose level. Something weird was, that the paramedic seemed to know who Grandpa Wang was, and knew, that he’d lived on the fourth floor of a nearby apartment building, that he’d often forgotten how to get home. But, my husband felt improper to inquire further, and, ended this rescue mission of his.
One afternoon two weeks later, my husband was on the way to the garage, to pick up his ancient car, as he passed through an apartment, a stainless steel cup was thrown from overhead, it’d missed his head, my husband lifted his head up to look, it was the elderly man, Wang, who was barely hanging on to the windowsills, screaming out for help. My husband’s “savior personality” was once again, reignited, he’d dialed up the police station and the fire department, and, the police and ambulance rushed over.
still mobile, so, surely, they will, WANDER off! Not my photo…
It’s just, that the police, the paramedics, as well as the neighbors all had something to say. The neighbor told, that Grandpa Wang had almost burned the house down for turning on the heater. The paramedics told, that the elderly was demented, and complained of how he was dying, and whenever nobody else was at home, he’d dialed up the emergency hotlines, call up an ambulance, it’d happened too frequently that the Social Services Department had intervened. The police told, that Grandpa Wang’s son works as a security guard, without the set schedules, he’d wanted to send his father into a nursing home, but, was called “improper”, so he’d, tossed that thought temporarily.
At which time, Grandpa Wang’s son also came, he felt bad about how his father had, wasted the resources and caused everybody the troubles. He will keep on trying to convince his father, that living in a nursing home would be the best options for him now, otherwise, things will only get worse.
As my husband told me what had happened, I couldn’t help but feel, that Grandpa Wang signaled our futures, that with our health and physical abilities declining by the day, dementia and loss of abilities would be waiting for us, not too far from where we are. The children are already too busy, making their ends meet, they wouldn’t have the time to look after us—it has NOTHING to do with filial piety, after all, a lot of things in life are, out of our controls, other than taking good care of ourselves, we’d needed to, check ourselves in to the nursing homes ourselves, to NOT make troubles for our own young, that, would be, a win-win. I’d even hoped, that by them, my husband and I will be, first and second leaders of the nursing home we check ourselves into in the future!
can’t remember where I live is the thing, every street look familiar for some reasons…not my photo…
So, this, is what’s happening now, these elderly lacked the abilities to look after themselves, and, with dementia, making them even worse, and, the BEST case would be if these elderly checked themselves into assisted living, but, there’s this taboo of feeling abandoned by one’s own young in the Asian societies here.