Monday, December 01, 2008

Sadly,

the nursing facility I work at is closing. It's eerie walking down the empty halls that once held young and old residents alike. It's sad to see them cry and ask if they really have to go. They are scared. The employees are scared too. It's the holidays, time for gaiety and lightheartedness. Not the time to worry about which sister facility we will be placed at, or if we will be placed. (I have already been told I will have a position with the company, but not which facility. And for that, I'm thankful.) We smile at the residents and tell them they will be well taken care of at their new home and how much we will miss them. The residents thank us and tell us how much they are going to miss us and when we re-open they want to come home. For some, we are their only family, their only friends, the only people who care about them. We smile until they are out of sight and then we cry. We seek out co-workers we are closest to, looking for support and strength to make it through another day. And we do make it another day, putting one foot in front of the other, life goes on. There will be other residents we will care about and care for, but we will never forget these residents.

I wasn't sure if I should blog about this. I decided to go ahead and do it. I love the facility I work at. It has been very stressful at times. I've done my share of complaining about things. I was disappointed when I had to go back there after taking the paralegal course and then wasn't able to find a job. As odd as it sounds, a lot of paralegal jobs were being outsourced at the time. Now, I am just as disappointed that I will no longer be working there. It's like a divorce and a family member dieing all rolled into one. I am just numb. The next few weeks are going to be difficult. I'm glad I don't have young children nearby. It would be hard to explain why Mommy or Gramma is so sad.






1 comment:

Unknown said...

thanks for stopping by and wishing Abby well. With all that is going on - your post brought tears to my eyes. Hope everyone is okay. g