Cornflakes and soiled sheets, this is what I smell most days that I go minister at the Abuelo House. The Abuelo House ( aka elderly home ) is a main ministry that we attended while in Antigua and I'll admit that it was very challenging. I remember the very first day we arrived at the Abuelo House, it was quite awkward to say the least. We weren't really sure what to do. I know that every time I see an elderly home on tv the people are usually playing checkers, eating jello, or watching tv, but here in Guatemala none of that happens. The team decided that we would each pick a person and try to have a conversation ( with the few Spanish words that we know ). Having conversations made the visits less awkward, but all the more difficult. For the most part we would ask simple questions then sit in silence until we could think of another simple question to ask in broken Spanish. In order to make the visits to the Abuelo House less awkward and more intentional we would talk to the same person each visit we made. Here is the story of the man I would visit with…..
I picked a man who always seemed to be drawing when I came to visit. I picked him for two reasons: He likes to draw and I like to color so I figured it was a perfect match and also in the midst of the silence moments of our conversation he could continuing drawing which would result in him never being bored. The first couple of visits with him I would take my coloring book and pretend to having a coloring contest with him ( of course, I would always win ). He would often tell me of the pictures that we was drawing and I would sit there nodding my head pretending to understand what he was saying. One day the explanation of his drawings led into telling his life story. He speaks very fast and very soft so I literally only caught every fourteenth word that he said and I made up the rest by his hand gestures. This is his story…. 🙂
He once was a shrimp boatman. He lived on the boat weeks at a time and sometimes when he caught the shrimp they would bite his fingers. He also once climbed a mountain. It was a very muddy mountain; therefore, he had to wear tall rain boots. And sometimes he would make the international sign for money and when he did he always seemed to make a creepy laugh, so I'm guessing that he once found a hidden treasure chest. So in putting the whole story together this is what I got… I'm sure that he took his shrimp boat to a secret island. Once on the island he had to climb a mountain. It was a very muddy mountain. Once at the top of the mountain he found a hidden treasure chest. Sounds like a pretty legit life story to me 🙂 In the midst of him telling his story my heart broke as I sat back and really looked at the man telling the me his life story. It made me wonder, " How often does he get to share his story?"
Many more thoughts crossed my mind such as:
Does he have a family?
Does his family ever visit?
Does he like it here?
How did he end up here?
And all these thoughts brought along one big thought….
My grandparents.
I love my grandparents so much. They are my greatest influence, spiritual leaders, and my heroes. It was very hard for me to leave them for 11 months ( and of course I still have Skype, Facebook, and text ) I could NEVER imagine placing them in a nursing home and never going to visit them. In that moment I was reminded of a conversation I once had with my grandma:
Me: Grandma, you know that I'm going to live with you for the rest of my life, right?
Grandma: Lynnsey, what about when you get married?
Me: Hello, your house is big enough for all of us.
Grandma: Don't you think your husband might have a problem with that?
Me: Well thats his problem. I love you way too much to ever leave you.
Grandma: Wouldn't it just be easier to put me in a nursing home?
Me: I would never do that! But if your some reason I absolutely had to, you would be the envy of the nursing home because I would come visit you everyday!
Grandma: Aw, Lynnsey, that is very sweet.
Me: Wait, I just had a great idea! We could get bunk beds in your room! Don't worry, I'll let you have the bottom.
I could never imagine leaving my family in a nursing home and never visiting them again and in that moment I felt very sad for the elderly people who now surrounded me. I never want to know what it is like to be "alone" with no family, no spouse, only to spend my days alone in a chair surrounded by others who have lost the same and are now sitting alone as well.
That visit was a large wake up call. A call to be more intentional with people and the time that I have with them. I extend this wake up call to all who reads my blog. Please don't take time you have with your loved ones forgranted. Cherish.Each.Moment. Laugh.Love.And.Be.Loved
