The weak and hobbled

I was doing my semi-annual visit to my local favorite hospital this morning and something dawned on me. There are an awful lot of sick people at hospitals.

I always say hello, it is something I learned while caring for my ailing mother. When she was living at an elder care facility in Seattle, all of the staff would make it a point to honor the elders with friendliness. I thought it was a good idea, so I incorporated that into my interactions. Of course, at the time, my mother was being cared for in the Old Jewish Women's angry and bitter facility. I am not sure if that was the exact name, but you get the drift.

Point of order.

Look it's a new blog feature (tm) where when things begin to not make any sense, anyone can call Point of Order and then everything will get back to the point that was supposed to be made.

The hospital is a beautiful structure, bricks and windows. The waiting room I was seated in was another story. People with brain issues, injuries, disease and senility are hardly ever any fun. What I did not realize was that people get freaky about their brains.

See, when you injure a finger, it is right there, hopefully, on the end of your hand. Or stub a tie, you know exactly where to look. When you injure your brain, or your brain begins to long slow process into Alzheimers, it can be downright freak central. Brains are a lot like god, we don't really pay much attention until it gets our attention.

I was chatting with an older man this morning, waiting to visit a doctor. He crumbled up a piece of paper and asked if I thought he could make the shot into the nearby trash can. I said doubtful, the man was in his 80's and looked frail, confused and like he could not make a shot shooting a crumbled piece of paper into a trash can. My interior guess was that he would miss a slam dunk into the trash can.

He took the shot and missed horrible and when I picked up the paper and threw it away, he said, "thank you young man." I am always looking for a positive moment to focus on and for me, the rest of today, I will be thinking that the shot missing older man was nice enough to call me young.

I don't feel young.

Then again, today is a training day and I was already on a cycle this morning, sweating to the oldies on my Ipod.

I like hospitals, but I am tired of visiting them. I do, however, like to see people who are getting healthier. This battle we are all waging against age and our own bodies and minds, is a battle we know we will lose, but it is a battle we take on with free will, and fight passionately, because without the battle against time, against our own bodies betraying us, we would die.