Pep Talk: “Finish Well”
December 26, 2016
‘Twas the day before Christmas and your knucklehead scribe was sprawled on the couch. A combination of necessary rest from a wonderful European vacation and late-season NFL football making lounging quite easy.
But the cranium was troubled. Life sometimes bring real challenges. A big one these days in America is care of its elderly. Whether at home, hospital, assisted-living facility or somewhere else. There is much debate about the quality and expense associated with elderly care. A lot of negative talk about a broken system.
A Stronger Cord is thrilled to be moving into this area after the first of the year. The three-year-old community outreach wellness movement will be teaming with Bessie’s Hope to love on isolated elderly in assisted-living facilities. Bessie’s Hope has been doing this quite well for more than 20 years, ASC can’t wait to help.
But back to why the brain was a bit scrambled. It came from a horizontal position and watching/listening to pre-game chatter before the important Christmas Eve NFL games. All the talking heads were, accurately, proclaiming, “It’s do or die time.” All the teams fighting for their playoff lives looking for winning efforts the final two weeks of the regular season.
The finish line is near. Those times in life, whether from football, caring for the elderly, work, marriage or other critical and difficult endeavors, where it’s crunch time. Moments where character is truly revealed. I can remember vividly from childhood, my parents and others, in describing times like this, encouraging me with, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” I believed it then and now.
It’s that time for this ol’ jock. Sudie Puff is quite ill. In this weekly blog, I have written often about a feisty 81-year-old mother of four who is still sharp as a tack. But the ol’ body is wearing out. During recent hospitalization and now rehab, concern for her well-being has sparked, between family members, passionate conversations about her care and cost, physically, emotionally and financially. It ain’t easy.
It’s the fourth quarter of mom’s life and the question becomes, how will it finish? That’s our family story. We all have such stories, right? It might not be elderly end-of-life stuff but, usually, there’s something stressful grinding the gears. As my buddy Billy Mac from Hackensack would suggest about these seasons of life, “It’s tough sledding time.”
Just my opinion, but I don’t think there’s any definitive way to address such moments. Whether fighting for NFL survival or another breath, each challenge will require participants to perform well. Caring for our elderly is a group effort, bigger than ourselves. It’s about team and whether these challenges bring unity or division to it, whether football or family.
Watching NFL gridiron action but thinking about mom and caring for the elderly. A big challenge for my family and our nation. This week let’s do our part to help those we dearly love finish well.
Powered by WPeMatico