elders

http://communities.ic.org/articles/1413/Elderhood_In_and_Out_of_Community

My friend and former community-mate wrote this article for communities magazine. I have been thinking about these issues alot lately. Obviously I thought about how children and elders can be respected in community when I lived at Lost Valley ( the community Dianne founded and wrote about in the article). Now, that I work with elders I see the need for community even more. I get paid to work with elders because in most cases, they have no one else to help them. It is very sad. I love helping people, I love my job... and sometimes I feel guilty accepting their gratitude, I cant help but think.... yeah, but I am getting paid to be here. I have to get paid, that is just my situation right now unfortunately.

These thoughts are what sparked one of my last blogs about isolation. I have left a few jobs crying because the elders I work with are not respected members of community..
A lady lost her husband 10 years ago and is still sad and lonely filling her time with t.v.
A man lost his wife a year ago and has no idea how to cook.
A lady was sent to live in a depressing nursing home because she has no one else to care for her or even sit and chat with her.

Its time to build lovely communities that respect everyone's goodness.

sidenote-
this picture was taken at Lost Valley
some of you may not know that we were told to leave. one of the reasons was that Ama was a liability because she climbs trees