Just Humans Being...

Do you live in fear of growing old, of becoming ill and dying?  Or do you enjoy your life; living with purpose and seeing the beauty all around you? Our work has evolved in the last year and has taken us on a path which felt right...caring for others.  Going into the homes of older people who have needed help and human contact.  We started with 2 clients, people we have been supporting with housework and pet care for many years and as the months ticked by, they both asked if we would go into various friends too. We are now working pretty much full time, doing whatever is needed...housework, gardening, dog walking, food preparation, sometimes just sitting and chatting over a cuppa.  We feel we have calmed those who were fearful and helped them to see things more logically...there is little virus here in Cornwall and it is very doubtful anyone will catch it while sitting in their house. Those who had become frightened of the outside world, have now started going out ag...

  My sister Joanne died 21 years ago – she would have been 52 today. Life was not easy for Jo; she was born with a congenital heart condition and was labelled “mentally handicapped”. Eventually that label was softened and it was deemed that she had “learning disabilities”. She had amazing abilities actually - they were just different to what the powers that be decided she should be good at...She had the most incredible memory, photographic really and could remember every tiny detail from years ago and when I say every detail, I mean everything...Dates, times, names, what we were wearing, what we all ate and drank. She was also a living encyclopaedia when it came to music, TV shows and films – it never ceased to blow our minds and provided hours of entertainment for my brother and I when we were kids. She was always right too, which bugged us. Jo also talked to dead people and had a very sharp sixth sense, it freaked me out on several occasions when we were sharing a bedroom...

  At what point in history did we start putting our elderly relatives into care homes? As I write, I have no way of knowing...no internet to help research and Sime’s still snoozing, well it is only 6:30 and dark - most people are asleep, but I woke with this thought and no doubt I have written something along these lines before. Having cared for both my Grandmother (Nan) and Sime’s Mum (Bebe) and knowing how difficult it was especially with Bebe as her dementia progressed...I was thinking about how families managed before care homes. Certainly in the UK, we have become quite disconnected from our older generation and it seems that their opinions are no longer valued by younger generations. How differently we live today and yet Nan grew up surrounded by family, cousins in the same street or just around the corner. Neighbours were like extended family and everyone helped each other - taking care of the children and keeping an eye on aging grandparents. Lives were entwined. Young ...