I'm not a big fan of the reality show as a genre, but there are some that really catch my interest and hold it, like the food channel. BG introduced me to that wicked little secret a few years ago. As I was sittin' in the swing watching the dogs play awhile ago, it dawned on me that what my family is doing is sort of like real live hospice care...the way it was designed to be,in the home setting. Don't nobody love you warts and all except for a dear friend or a family member. Back when I studied my brains out scouring options for myself and my loved ones when the time came, a pattern emerged as to the successful delivery of home care.
There's doctor, of course. And his faithful smartass nurse who knows the patients inside out and loves 'em to pieces. Hopefully there's a chaplain, or at least somebody who knows their way around the spiritual side of death. Home health services are provided by agencies that are paid by Medicare dollars to check on homebound folks. Many of them are run ragged by low paying positions with large corporations who see these services as a pass through. If you can make enough to pay the help and the CEO, that's all that matters.
The role of a social worker is to tie all of these elements together for a client with their best interests at heart. And that is the degree that will bestowed upon my child, the never forgettable, moody as hell angel. Not too long ago we were talkin' and she thanked me for being supportive on the journey. I quipped that she could pay me back when I'm old and she's taking care of my ornery half Reaves half Stafford ass. "Mom" she said. "That's a given."
Ya'll hold your applause until we make it to the beach with a fruity drink in hand.
^j^
What a sweet post. She is something! Yea BG! Congrats to you both.
ReplyDeleteOnce when my oldest daughter was really young, she told me that when she grew up and I grew down, she would be my mother. I told her that I would always be her mother, but you know, I think she had a point. She has always figured in her mind that one day she would be the self-appointed one who would take me under her wing.
I can't think of a better place to be in my old age.
aren't daughters grand!
~a