"This Is My Life Now" -- An Interview with a Nursing Home Resident

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I walked into the cheerful, rather narrow halls of the care center. It didn’t smell of feces and urine like many I had been in. Up the hall from where I walked in, was a small dining room. Some of the residents were sitting there. I found out later that they were waiting for dinner. It was two in the afternoon. They don’t eat until five thirty. “I’ll just wait”, said one resident who sat in a wheel chair, watching people walking by. She called all the nurses by name. She had been here a while, I imagine.

I traveled down the hall to the room of my friend. She was lying in bed, reading a book. The room is small, two beds, two dressers and two nightstands in this room are a tight squeeze. My friend has many pictures of loved ones on the wall. “I can’t remember who they all are, so my daughter pasted those little name tags under each of the pictures.” She explains. Her roommate is not so lucky. No pictures of loved ones adorn her walls. She has very few living relatives and none close.

I sit down to talk with my friend. “How are you doing?” ...
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