Author Archive
There was no way to know if she understood what we were saying when we first met her. She could not talk – could not tell us what was wrong or what she wanted or needed. There was a look of fear in her eyes that I will never forget. She was panicked – stumbling [...]
Christmas was coming and a volunteer called me to say he wanted to visit someone Christmas Day. He wasn’t going to be able to go home to see his mom and dad over Christmas and he thought it would be nice to spend the day with a lonely senior. I asked him to visit an [...]
This month Friends for Life is 21 years old! We started helping people in September of 1989. This year Friends for Life is helping about 3,815 people. 93 frail elderly and adults with disabilities are enrolled in our Adult Day Care Center with between 75 and 80 coming each day now. We provide nursing care, [...]
When the volunteer walked into her room at the nursing home, she was greeted by a very excited resident who asked, “is that a Bible? Please read it to me. I came here three years ago. I had been taken by ambulance to the hospital and there was no time for them to get my [...]
Before we know it Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here and we have thousands of people to reach out to this holiday season — people who are alone. Most don’t have family to remember them. We have a program called Friends for Thanksgiving where we deliver Thanksgiving Dinners to homebound elderly and people with disabilities. [...]
I went to see an elderly widow who was sitting on concrete steps outside her house. She was crying and she had pulled out almost all of her hair. There were ants crawling all over her. She couldn’t remember when she had eaten last or when she had taken her medicine. She just kept [...]
The following article was reprinted with the permission of Home Instead. While family caregivers and senior care professionals might recognize that an older adult needs help, seniors often don’t want it, potentially putting their health and safety at risk. Family caregivers may lack the communication skills needed to talk with their aging loved ones about [...]
Ann was visiting one of her favorite guardianship clients, when she decided to ask, “What would you like more than anything in the world? Mary said, “I’d like to see my sister once more before I die.” Working this out was a challenge since her sister lived in a nursing home several hours away and [...]
Today, the Waco Tribune Herald featured a story written by Wendy Gragg about ballroom dancing at our Adult Day Care Center. She tells how much our clients love it and you can read the article.
The cartilage in both her knees was gone and advanced arthritis in her shoulders and back made it painful and exhausting to walk, but this elderly woman made it to our offices to ask us to help her replace her broken walker. When the pain is so bad I can’t stand it, I pray.” I [...]