The article written by Charelle Evelyn brought to light elderly abuse. Sadly this happens more times than naught and as I enter my late senior years, it certainly has crossed my mind of how I will be cared for in my later years. How can I possibly protect myself? Will those who have taken on the commitment to care for me do so with dignity and respect? You betcha I can get stubborn and set in my ways. I've almost outlived the dinosaurs.
I've earned it after 70-plus years but I can't see myself putting up much of a struggle against a care aid or nurse. I'm a lover not a fighter. You could ask my husband Clyde but he's long gone in the ground.
Most days my memory fades, my muscles and joints are not like they used to be, I can't do the jig like I used to, my eyesight is failing, my skin is like a Shar Pei, and well, I'm just a wreck.
In the years ahead, there will come the day when I will have to rely on my family to make the tough decision to have others take care of me. It's going to be hard on them as it is, you know, the guilt thing. As much as I have reassured them all that it's through love and compassion to take those steps, I know how difficult it will be.
I don't want this process be any more emotional than it has to be. I want my children to be confident in the professionals who are trained to look after me, to help me when I'm crying because I can no longer remember who I am, or where I am. When I'm trapped in an old shell that used to be young and vibrant and sassy. To offer words of comfort to my family as I wilt away leaving this earthly plain. Just to be human. Is it really too much to ask?
Maybelle Cotton
Quesnel
