Celebrating 20 years in the desert!
August 12, 2012 will mark 20 years of Desert Ministries serving the frail elderly living in nursing homes. It’s been a remarkable journey, filled with hard work, joy, laughter, and of course tears. Hang around Desert Ministries long enough and you will come to know that tears are an integral part of this organization. However, as one older woman pointed out to me many years ago: “These are not tears of sadness
“Count your blessings! No, I mean it!
Several years ago, as I entered a memory unit in a nursing home, a woman was there to greet me. As I was closing the door to the memory unit, I noticed that her eyes were riveted on me. With a burst of laughter she said, "Count your blessings!" The look of shock on my face must have been priceless. Then as I was trying to understand what just happened and formulate some sort of response, once again, and
“Volunteers are as effective as antidepressants.”
Today my wife sent me an article entitled "For the Very Old, a Dose of ‘Slow Medicine" by Abigal Zuger, M.D. (found at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/health/views/26books.html) The article reviews "My Mother, Your Mother: embracing slow medicine, the compassionate approach to caring for your aging loved ones," by Dennis McCullough, M.D. Dennis McCullough is a geriatrician at Dartmouth Medical School. I have not read the book so I will reserve my comments about the book for a later time. I have "one-click" at Amazon.com
