Day 10 with the elderly

After having a fantastic weekend at the coast, it was time to get back to reality. So Tuesday morning came and Vikki and I headed off to the old people's home. Unfortunately it wasn't as good as i was hoping it to be, as one of the ladies who we work with had passed away. As we walked in we saw the sitting room was fuller than usual with lots of ladies, and a casket. As we walked passed we had the horrible feeling that it was one of the ladies we were working with and i got the worst feeling in my stomach. The other ladies, and one of the lovely young nuns told us it was Augustina, a lady in a wheelchair passed away the night before in her sleep and asked whether we would like to pay our respects. Which of course we did. So we walked into the room, and Augustina was in a beautif

ul white marble casket with a glass panel over her upper body so we could see her. This was the first person who I had seen that had passed away and the fact that only a few days before we were caring for her and helping look after her, was quite tough. So of course i cried. I actually cried a lot, it was a combination of shock, as i wasn't expecting that one of the ladies might pass away while i was there...silly not to be prepared but i just didn't think about it and secondly because she was such a sweet lady, it was very difficult.

So our morning was a combination of tears, chopping vegetables and sitting with the other ladies. I could definately tell that they were quite shaken as well, but also that they were appreciative of the fact that we paid our respects to her and that we showed we were upset.

When we got back to the CCS house later that day and everyone asked how our day was, it was hard not to well up into tears again, but we were just glad we got to make her final days maybe a little happier or at least a little more comfortable. And knowing that makes me feel a little better about the whole situation.

I don't have a photo of Augustina unfortunately, but i have a couple of other photos here of some ladies we work with who are just lovely. The lady with the jigsaw puzzle, Chabella, is an absolute hoot, she is very lucid and with it, and helps us chop vegetables every morning. She also sings in spanish for us and asks us funny questions that we don't understand half the time. The lady directly above this writing is also so so lovely, she is actually one of my favourites, i help her into the lunch room and out again and give her hand massages with hand cream and she is just so so appreciative :)

xoxo millie