Final Vacation

Getting older is just a part of life and you don't really appreciate the old and what they have to say until you get older. Sometimes we are to late in our appreciation for the old as some have passed on. There are some great aunts and uncles, grandparents, and older friends I would love to go back and sit down and have a cup of coffee with and just sit back and listen to their stories. It says in the bible we are to take care of the elderly because they took care of us when we were younger when we needed it.

Senior citizens that retain their sanity in their older years are unusual because of the outbreak of Alzheimer's. It is a terrible disease that reverts adults back into a child. Some become to tough to handle for their children to care for and some are moved on their final vacation spot.

I remember visiting a vacation spot for the elderly for the first time with my Aunt Jan and Uncle Ricky and their children Russ and Kimberly when I was about eight. We were visiting one of their elderly kin that was on vacation in a nursing home in Greenwood, Ms. That was what my Aunt called anyway. She called it a vacation place for seniors. I had never been to a nursing home and I remember thinking if this was where all these people vacationed we were in for some fun. She laid out all the ground rules for us kids as we made our thirty minute trip from our boring old town of Tchula to the wonderful, fun, nursing home in Greenwood, Ms. If this was such a wonderful vacation spot as she made it out to be then there shouldn't be any rules. I remember thinking these people have been living by the rules their whole life. I bet they were bouncing off the walls, partying, dancing, playing games, living it up the last years of their life. The rules were as follows:
1. No Running- I can understand this one. These people were probably a little slow because of their age and we didn't want to show them up, make them feel bad for being old.
2. No wandering around- I really understood this. Probably with all of the chaos of vacationing people we could get lost in all the commotion.

There were two rules and they seemed simple enough to follow. As we pulled into the nursing home and got out of the car Aunt Jan reminded us of the two rules once more. I remember walking up to the front door there were a few of the vacationers sitting outside on a bench and a couple in their wheelchairs. I remember thinking they looked tired and and worn out. This was understandable seeing how this was a Sunday and yesterday was Saturday the most partying day of the week. I was sure they were pooped from all of the excitement of last night. One even had slobber running down the side of his face and he just grunted when being spoken to by one of the nurses. We entered the front door and the smell was just like hitting a wall. It was like a mixture of urine, feces, and fried chicken. It was one of those smells you never will forget. It stopped me and my cousin Russ dead in our tracks. Russ was known for a lot of things, but the one he was most known for was he hadn't smelled anything because of allergies since he was two. He could this funk though. Kimberly shouted somebody had stepped in dog doodie and went about checking every ones shoes. My uncle pulled her up from the floor and drug her down the hall. We followed slowly behind observing all the inhabitants in the home. We began to figure out this wasn't a vacation spot. There were no parties, no excitement, no games, we had been fooled by Aunt Jan. We were discussing this game being played on us while walking down the hall when all of a sudden this one older gentleman jumped in front us in the hallway. He stuck out his hand to shake and being the children we were and how we were raised we obliged and stuck out ours. The next thing that happened is something I will never forget. He stuck what looked like an electric razor to his throat and began to say " Hello, How are you boys doing", but it didn't sound like anything I had ever heard. It sounded like a robot from a sci-fi movie with some vibration added. At first it kind of scared us, but I thought this is what they must do for fun around here. From the looks of it they needed some jokes and this must be the comedian of the home. So we shook hands with the older man and went on. Every person we met we did just as he did. We stuck our fake electric razor to our throats and in our best robot voices we shook hands and asked "How are ya ll doing?". When I mean every person we met, I mean every person we met we did this to. We even went in some rooms of the guest we didn't know to bring a little cheer. We had lost my Aunt and Uncle while making the rounds. We made our way into the dining hall where most had gathered and introduced ourselves in our new robotic fashion. Some laughed and some looked on at us like they wished they had a belt to whip our butts. Uncle Ricky had been watching our whole production from the side and needless to say he wasn't happy. We walked over to him and introduced ourselves to him in our new way of talking. He was so mad I think his black beard turned red. He introduced his self as the one that was gonna tear us up when we got home. I remember sitting in the room of their great aunt and not thinking of much else but what we had done. The trip was cut very short due to the problems we had caused. I think we were even asked to leave because we had upset some guest.

I remember the car ride home was a quite one and not much was said. Nothing really needed to be said. That was one of the worst spankings I think I have ever gotten in my life. Thank goodness Uncle Ricky had about an hour to cool off before he got us alone or I think it really could have been bad. I have a grown into a man that loves the elderly. God wants us to love, listen, and serve them. This day helped me grow in my love for seniors. It also was another great memory for me and my Aunt and Uncle. They still get a little cracked up when we talk about it.