Goodbye, Denali

Thursday October 18, 2012

Today was my last day at Denali Center and I am going to miss the residents! I got used to sitting with the “Golden Girls” for breakfast and lunch each day. What a lively bunch! I could definitely assign each of them a role as a Golden Girl. On of the women was explaining to me the things that bother her about the staff at elder care facilities. She said old people are just like babies—in the way to start to revert back, and in what they need. If a baby was crying you would hold him/her and hush that everything was going to be okay. She said, in the same way, those are the loving gestures that older adults need but for some reason, there is some aversion to loving adults. She said it seems harder. She was a very intuitive gal. I got to sit and talk with another kind woman who used to be a missionary with her husband in the Amazon for many years. I found that fascinating! She had five children as well. There are just so many stories that are lying dormant in these residents’ minds that really need to be told to anyone who will listen. I can see how and why oral storytelling is so important to pass on—not just to grandchildren and immediate family but to people who they interact with at these types of facilities. I am excited to hear more amazing stories when we head up to Barrow on Saturday morning.