"I'm going to heaven!"

One of the residents I talk to often at work always starts, punctuates and ends her conversations with me with this statement, "I'm going to heaven!" She passed 100 many years ago, and is looking forward to checking out, settling up, and cashing in her rewards. (Sounds like a hotel stay!)

In the care center, we often get to witness the last days of our residents' lives. We get to hold hands, offer love and encouragement, wipe away tears and tend to the business of both living and dying. Someone I know who is a foster parent talks about what it's like to love someone you know won't be with you tomorrow. That struck a chord with me. That is the privilege we have as we watch over these souls.

All of our residents are old. They will all die soon. What happens between the time they enter our care and the time they leave this life is largely up to us and quality of interactions we have with them. I look at it as a sacred trust. Long before someone begins actively dying I make it my business to know at least some of the things that they love, a few things that make life worth living for them. I make it my mission to know them, to begin to love them. This process is smoother for some residents than others, but fortunately for me, God made it easy for me. While I often have difficulty trusting others, love comes easily to me, and especially for older adults (and children). When people draw close to the end, it makes it easy to step out of my comfort zone to reach out.

I'm so thankful for my job. I'm so grateful that the Lord has given me so many people to learn charity and kindness and patience and pretty much all the Christlike virtues we are supposed to be striving for. He's placed me in the crucible of developing those attributes in my home and work life...it must be urgent for me to learn these things!