The saddest day.

I haven't dealt with a lot of deaths in my life but there is one night that I will never forget. It was two days after my birthday last year that I found out my best friends grandmother had past. It was pretty hard on me  because she was like a grandmother to me too. Her family was a second family to me and losing Peg was such a difficult thing for them to cope with. Peg and her daughter Dianne were the only two people in that family who acted like glue to hold them all together. I had spent the night at my friends parents house the night before the wake even though I had a 8 am class in LaCrosse the next morning and would have to wake up early and drive 45 minutes to make it there on time. I had fallen asleep around 10 o'clock at night, I woke up to my friend shaking me. She told me something had happened to Dianne and she was in the hospital but no one told her exactly what had happend. She left to go releive her mother from babysitting her neice so she could go to the hospital. When she left she told me she'd call me and keep me updated. About 2 hours went by and I hadn't heard anything, so I called Carly's mom and asked her what had been going on she answered the phone crying and had told me that Dianne's daughter who had flown in for Pegs funeral had come home that night to find her mother on the kitchen floor not breathing. Carly's mom told me that they couldn't save Dianne, but they tried all they could. I then asked if Carly was there with her and she told me that she was still watching her niece and that I had to go to her right away before she broke the news to her. I can honestly say I have never driven so fast in my life. I made it to where Carly was right as she had gotten off the phone with her mother she stood up when I walked in and collapsed in my arms. We both sat there crying as I held her for about an hour until someone else came to watch her niece so we could go to to the hospital. I have always been there for Carly throughout thick and thin but at this moment I almost didn't know what to do or say to make her feel better which made me feel like such an awful friend. We arrived at the hospital around 2 am Diannes other daughter and her family arrived shortly after. Most of them never got to say goodbye, or tell her how much they loved and respected her. Ever since, I have learned to let my loved ones know that I love them and let the ones who have helped me throughout life know that I am grateful for them.

One person's trash is another person's treasure.

While most people think nursing homes are a sad place, to me working at a nursing home has a lot of benefits. I get the chance to meet amazing people who have gone through more in their lifetime then you or probably I ever will. Also, I get to experience the feeling of being needed and also a sense of accomplishment for doing something good for someone who is in need. To most just by walking into a nursing home gives them an uneasy feeling and to the naked eye looking at the elderly that are in there it may seem as they are unhappy and sick but in all actuality each one of those old farts has an amazing personality and most of them are quite happy with the life they’ve lived and where they are at. Do they wish they were still in their own house taking care of themselves? Oh, without a doubt, but I do my best to make sure that every day I work is an amazing day. I have more happy memories in nursing home settings then sad ones, and I am so grateful for that.