Visiting the Elderly

Some time ago I went with our youth group to visit a nursing home. I was the elected musician, ready to accompany any and all Christmas songs. Obviously it was during a Christmas visit. Since we are in Florida nursing homes are as prevalent as gas stations. We have many within a 3 mile radius of the church and I'm not really sure how this particular one was selected but as usual, not an important part of the story.  Preparation is everything. We rehearsed the songs, we prepared wonderful bags of candy decorated with some small ornaments, and talked about how we would share stories with the wonderful folks we would meet. Upon arrival we noticed by the sign outside that it was a home for Alzheimer's patients. Not really knowing what that added to the thrill of our visit, we charged on in. The staff had been expecting us and gathered many of the residents in a main hall for us to visit with.  Some of them were quite happy to share stories with our youth, even claiming them as their own children. I was asked many times to play Elvis songs and "Roll Out the Barrel" was also quite popular. One sweet lady asked for her favorite Christmas song, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", obviously about the Star of Bethlehem.  A bit of dancing took place, and then the giving of the gifts. As we were about to leave, I heard some commotion in the corner of the room.  Actually it was more of a ruckus if I knew what a ruckus was, and I think I do. We watched as 2 or 3 attendants tackled a resident in his wheelchair as he screamed "Nooooo!" Ready to report elder abuse, we moved in closer. It seemed he was choking. Maybe. The staff had fingers in his mouth. Then I noticed in his hands he was trying to stuff all the candy in his mouth. Unwrapped.  No.  Wait.  That wasn't the candy. It was the ornaments. Little Christmas balls like you put on a tree but tiny that we brought as decoration tied neatly to each bag. For him it was like a hollow Easter Bunny with a funny metallic chocolate. He yelled at the staff that was taking away his candy as he bled from the mouth. There really was nothing much else to say from us. We left. "Merry Christmas" we shouted on our way out. He was okay. We checked back later.