All Alone

So often at the hospital where I volunteer, I see patients all by themselves with nobody visiting them. Once I heard an elderly woman who was in a wheelchair in the Emergency Department, crying and saying she didn't want to die all alone.

On another occasion, I overheard family members talking about the old man they were visiting.  "I'm not spending money on that," said one. "He probably won't be alive much longer anyway so it wouldn't be worth it."  They were paying no attention to the patient, as if he wasn't even there.

Way back in the early days of AIDS, I often heard people say horrible things, blaming the patient for the disease and saying, "he got what he deserves."  So many families disowned their brothers and sone.

At a discussion by senior citizens in a senior housing building, it was nice to learn that some had regular visits from family and friends.  The sad thing was that most of them did not.  I heard an old lady say she wished she was dead.  

It makes me sad to see people of any age all by themselves.  How can family turn their backs?  It isn't that someone has lived a long time and therefore no longer deserves to live. That is simply nonsense. It doesn't matter who says otherwise - they are wrong. There isn't an age when people are no longer worthy.

There are many wonderful people in this world doing great things, and it gives me pleasure to be able to write about some of them here and about things we can all do to make a difference. From time to time though I just have to comment on the other side of the coin. There sadly are people who just don't care about others. I don't get it. I really don't. 

Reading obituaries, I often see that the deceased was "surrounded by family and friends."  Oh, how wonderful it would be if that were true for everyone.