Blessed be the Care Givers

My apartment shares a parking lot with a Senior Day Care. Every morning the buses pull up and drop the wheel chair lift or the walker ramp and deliver elderly men and women to the center for their day. Some of the folks are dropped off by women - about my age, dressed for work. I watch this every morning as I am out walking my mutt before work - and sometimes I get 'caught' in my parking space as the buses line up behind me. At times like these I get a chance to watch some incredible care givers in action. There are always one or 2 of the care givers waiting outside- in any weather. When the bus or car pulls up- they are off and running - smiling and calling the elderly person's name. Some of the men and women can navigate on their own and are standing upright when the greeters get to them. The other morning I watched as one women got out of her daughter's (?) car. Smiling, the caregivers immediately started touching her and calling her name. They touched her hair, they 'straightened' an already straight sweater at the woman's shoulder. One of the care givers bent all the way down and fussed with the cuff of the woman's pant leg. A button was closed, or opened - a piece of lint discarded. Hair was fluffed - contact was made. There was nothing wrong with the way this woman was dressed or groomed and I don't believe that was the point. By the time this woman made it to the front door with her care givers - her shoulders were straighter (that invisible piece of lint must have been a very heavy load), her head held higher (now that the hair was out of her eyes) and the foot that she had been favoring getting out of the car was weight bearing, now that she wasn't dragging her pant cuff. And she was smiling - now that these care givers had said her name several times and told her about her day to come. An amazing, visual transformation by the power of love and caring and giving of ourselves to others. The power of touch - from one human to another. I was in awe. It made my day- and I've thought about it ever since.

Over the weekend I baked a bunch of cakes for the ordination of a friend of mine. I made 3 extra loves (spice, vanilla and red velvet - which I don't get) and a few more chocolate covered strawberries and pineapples and cherries and Monday morning on the way to work I took the whole mess over to the Senior Care Center. Not for the folks who make it their home during the day (they seem to be well cared for!) but for the caregivers who make the home. They were a little taken aback (probably thought I was next on their resident list) - and nobody touched me - but, hey, maybe next time.

We love, because He first loved us. I John 4:19