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I have been a professional caregiver1 for twen ty years and I continue to learn a valu able life lesson everyday. I’m always amazed how sor row and pain can bring such won der ful gifts as wisdom, patience, in sight and love. I think it is very easy to make the mistake of tunnel vi sion ing on the tasks we have at hand. We get so caught up in the daily necessities and routines that we forget or ig nore the very things that can bring us joy and teach us many valuable lessons.
I was hired to care for a very special lady. I was to prepare meals for her, make sure she took her med i ca tion properly, do light housekeeping, and pro vide trans por ta tion to and from the market and her doctor’s appointments. All of these tasks were im por tant and nec es sary so that she could remain living independently. Our focus was just that---- helping her to remain independent.
It was on a cold rainy night, she had just crawled into bed, and she turned her little head and smelled her pillow. I noticed tears running from her eyes. She looked up at me and said, “It’s been such a long time since I’ve had clean sheets2; I love the smell of fresh clean sheets. I couldn’t change the sheets myself anymore, I didn’t know how to manage hanging on to my walker and changing the sheets at the same time. Thank you so much for changing my sheets.”
Such a simple pleasure as smelling clean sheets brought such great joy to her life. That was the day I learned unconditional care. The next day we sat down and talked about what was important to her, what she liked, and how she had done things all these years. The key point learned here was we were trying to help her remain independent, assisting her with the things
she had always done for herself...but we forgot to ask how she liked those things done, and what was im por tant to her.
She was the sunshine in my life. I never knew how much I would enjoy and learn from her sharing her life experiences with me. Meal time was not just another chore or necessity of life; it was an event to her. She showed me all of the beautiful and delicate3 dishes she had collected all of her life. Each one had a special sto ry and held fond memories for her. Her personal favorite was the oblong4 dishes she used for individual ears of corn. She loved lots of melted butter, not margarine5, smothering6 her ear of corn. Her mother had given her the corn dishes as a wedding present sixty-five years ago. Not a day goes by now that when I eat corn on the cob7 or climb into my bed which has fresh clean sheets, that I don’t see her beautiful little smiling face, so full of joy and hope from such simple pleasures.
I’m so thankful for the lessons I have learned---- the lessons I almost missed because I forgot to slow down to look and see the beauty that was right in front of me.
做职业看护二十年了，每天都不断地学习着宝贵的人生哲理。我时常为悲伤和痛苦能带来诸如智慧、耐心、洞察力和爱之类的令人惊喜的礼物而惊叹不已。我觉得，对于手头上的事情我们容易犯不易觉察的错误。我们每天陷入日常需要与例行公事不能自拔，而忽略了能带给我们快乐和有教训价值的事情。
我受雇去照料一位很特别的女士。我负责为她准备膳食，保证她合理服药，做一些轻家务活，为她往返购物并按时与她的医生会面。所有这些任务都很重要且是必要的，这样她才能保持独立生活。我们的目标就是——帮她保持独立。
那是一个寒冷的雨夜，她刚慢慢地爬上床，随后便转过头来嗅着她的枕头。我发觉她的泪水夺眶而出。她抬起头看着我说：“我享受着干净的床单已经好长时间了，我喜欢干净的新床单的味道。我无力自己换新床单了，我不知道拄着拐杖的同时该怎么去换新床单。非常感谢你为我换床单。”
闻干净床单这种简单的愿望却给她的生活带来了这么大的乐趣。就在那天，我才领悟到关爱是没有条件的。第二天我们坐下来谈论她认为重要的东西、她喜欢什么、这么多年来她怎样做事。而关键是我们要帮她保持独立，帮她做她一直以来都自己做的事情……但我们却忘了问她喜欢该怎么做那些事情，对她来说什么最重要。
她是我生活中的一缕阳光。她与我分享着她的生活阅历，我永远也不会知道自己从中学到了多少东西。用餐时间不再意味着洗碗碟之类的杂事或是生活必需，这对她来说是一件大事。她向我展示了她一生中收藏的漂亮而精巧的碟子。每只碟子背后都有一个特别的故事，为她珍藏着美好的往昔。那只她个人专用的吃玉米穗的长椭圆形碟子是她的最爱。她喜欢用融化了的黄油而不是人造黄油涂抹在玉米穗的表面。 65年前，她的母亲曾送给她玉米碟子作为结婚礼物。不到一天前，当我还在大嚼着玉米棒或是爬上我铺着干净床单的床上时，我都不曾发现她微笑着的美丽的脸庞，正是由于这种简单的愿望，所以，她的脸上满是愉悦和希望。
我很感激我获得的这一教训——因为我忘记放慢脚步去细心观察就在我身旁的美，而差点与其失之交臂的教训。
I was hired to care for a very special lady. I was to prepare meals for her, make sure she took her med i ca tion properly, do light housekeeping, and pro vide trans por ta tion to and from the market and her doctor’s appointments. All of these tasks were im por tant and nec es sary so that she could remain living independently. Our focus was just that---- helping her to remain independent.
It was on a cold rainy night, she had just crawled into bed, and she turned her little head and smelled her pillow. I noticed tears running from her eyes. She looked up at me and said, “It’s been such a long time since I’ve had clean sheets2; I love the smell of fresh clean sheets. I couldn’t change the sheets myself anymore, I didn’t know how to manage hanging on to my walker and changing the sheets at the same time. Thank you so much for changing my sheets.”
Such a simple pleasure as smelling clean sheets brought such great joy to her life. That was the day I learned unconditional care. The next day we sat down and talked about what was important to her, what she liked, and how she had done things all these years. The key point learned here was we were trying to help her remain independent, assisting her with the things
she had always done for herself...but we forgot to ask how she liked those things done, and what was im por tant to her.
She was the sunshine in my life. I never knew how much I would enjoy and learn from her sharing her life experiences with me. Meal time was not just another chore or necessity of life; it was an event to her. She showed me all of the beautiful and delicate3 dishes she had collected all of her life. Each one had a special sto ry and held fond memories for her. Her personal favorite was the oblong4 dishes she used for individual ears of corn. She loved lots of melted butter, not margarine5, smothering6 her ear of corn. Her mother had given her the corn dishes as a wedding present sixty-five years ago. Not a day goes by now that when I eat corn on the cob7 or climb into my bed which has fresh clean sheets, that I don’t see her beautiful little smiling face, so full of joy and hope from such simple pleasures.
I’m so thankful for the lessons I have learned---- the lessons I almost missed because I forgot to slow down to look and see the beauty that was right in front of me.
做职业看护二十年了，每天都不断地学习着宝贵的人生哲理。我时常为悲伤和痛苦能带来诸如智慧、耐心、洞察力和爱之类的令人惊喜的礼物而惊叹不已。我觉得，对于手头上的事情我们容易犯不易觉察的错误。我们每天陷入日常需要与例行公事不能自拔，而忽略了能带给我们快乐和有教训价值的事情。
我受雇去照料一位很特别的女士。我负责为她准备膳食，保证她合理服药，做一些轻家务活，为她往返购物并按时与她的医生会面。所有这些任务都很重要且是必要的，这样她才能保持独立生活。我们的目标就是——帮她保持独立。
那是一个寒冷的雨夜，她刚慢慢地爬上床，随后便转过头来嗅着她的枕头。我发觉她的泪水夺眶而出。她抬起头看着我说：“我享受着干净的床单已经好长时间了，我喜欢干净的新床单的味道。我无力自己换新床单了，我不知道拄着拐杖的同时该怎么去换新床单。非常感谢你为我换床单。”
闻干净床单这种简单的愿望却给她的生活带来了这么大的乐趣。就在那天，我才领悟到关爱是没有条件的。第二天我们坐下来谈论她认为重要的东西、她喜欢什么、这么多年来她怎样做事。而关键是我们要帮她保持独立，帮她做她一直以来都自己做的事情……但我们却忘了问她喜欢该怎么做那些事情，对她来说什么最重要。
她是我生活中的一缕阳光。她与我分享着她的生活阅历，我永远也不会知道自己从中学到了多少东西。用餐时间不再意味着洗碗碟之类的杂事或是生活必需，这对她来说是一件大事。她向我展示了她一生中收藏的漂亮而精巧的碟子。每只碟子背后都有一个特别的故事，为她珍藏着美好的往昔。那只她个人专用的吃玉米穗的长椭圆形碟子是她的最爱。她喜欢用融化了的黄油而不是人造黄油涂抹在玉米穗的表面。 65年前，她的母亲曾送给她玉米碟子作为结婚礼物。不到一天前，当我还在大嚼着玉米棒或是爬上我铺着干净床单的床上时，我都不曾发现她微笑着的美丽的脸庞，正是由于这种简单的愿望，所以，她的脸上满是愉悦和希望。
我很感激我获得的这一教训——因为我忘记放慢脚步去细心观察就在我身旁的美，而差点与其失之交臂的教训。