Jul 11, 2026
It wasn’t the first time he had gone with my wife to visit her brother in a Rehabilitation Center- that’s the newest, kindest, less shocking word for a nursing home. It’s not a pleasant place to visit, and it certainly does nothing for one’s mood afterward. Eating a pleasant lunch or running a few errands on the way home seems pointless. Their spirits have slipped into the reality that this could be their future, existing in a similar setting with other older people in that end-of-life environment. Will their children visit and try to cheer them up, or will they come by a few times a year out of guilt? The man is not sure he can return, but his wife is a few years younger than he is, and driving a two-hundred-mile round trip by herself is not an option.I’m reminded of the Traveling Wilburys song, with Roy Orbison’s rocking chair moving as his cherished guitar sits in the chair instead of the recently departed Roy. No one wants a preview of the end of the line.
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Excellent. Scary. And hopefully not your future nor mine.
Amen, Arthur, but we all reach it eventually. Quality of life is so important, and we so overlook our given freedoms and self dependency.
Some seniors have an easier transition than others if they have to go into a nursing home. Regardless, it’s sad to see the weathered faces of people who can no longer care for themselves. I’m sorry your brother-in-law is in that situation.
There is a huge back story to how he ended up there, but I can’t write it. My wife Momo, and her remaining sister do the best they can, and his daughter has stepped up and taken hold of things.
I’m sure I know the man you are writing about. We were pretty good friends back in the day. Sad to hear, as I often wondered what happened to him.
I know you know him. He’s a good man. He had some bad luck, a lousy marriage, health issues, and now he is where he is. Maureen is doing all she can to help. I’ve known him since 8th grade and it’s tough to see him in a place like that, but we all, reach the end of the line. God doesn’t give us much choice.
As for me, I walk the line. (I guess Johnny Cash reached the end of the line back in 2003.)
Yeah, we are all walking that line, some of us more than others. If it ends well, God Bless us and let it be.
This is a profound one, Phil. Hits home.
Thanks, Nancy, I assume you know the man was myself.
Nobody likes it. It’s really hard. But maybe it’s more appreciated, by some, anyway, when we make the effort, or, if not appreciated, maybe the love is something they sense.
Yes, it is.
The majority of my nursing career was in long term care, Phil. It was certainly sad in some instances. In others, it saved the folks who were admitted from loneliness and in some instances from starvation when they could no longer prepare their own meals, or from serious injury when they started to wander away from their homes and become lost. Something else I know for sure – it’s not the majority of us whose final stop is long term care.
I hear you.
Not sure I like “rehabilitation centre”. It suggests that they’re fixing and preparing you for some important next stage, and they’re not. Quite the opposite!
Yep, the next stage is the one to worry about.
I think nursing facilities are a necessary safety net for some — such as those who are all alone in the world, and more than a few who don’t know they are. It’s better than seeing people living under bridges. I have no unique insights into this. I count my blessings and pray for God’s mercy upon those who can’t remember yesterday.
I do the same, Mustang. Many of those folks living in tents and under bridges would do better in a facility. My neurologist put me on a memory pill, and I feel smarter already.
According to my wife, my memory is so sharp that I can remember stuff she never said …
You know, mine says the same thing. I found her car keys in the freezer the other day, so she can’t say too much about it.
my sister is in one; I see her once a week; kids visit regularly; there are benefits: company, care but good food, the stuff we like, is not amongst them; they play old movies on weekday afternoons and there’s plenty of activities so that’s good; but you don’t get out much; she’s not real happy — staff appear slapdash, things go missing ,,,,,, yes, and , sadly, it is the end of the line …..
Momo and I have an agreement to let me wander off into the sunset and see what transpires.