Carmel, Francie, Josephine and May.....

My patient at work today was a little confused. Occasionally she would start yelling at the lady in the bed next to her, "JOSEPHINE!!! Is that YOU...why aren't you TALKING to ME?!" (She had the tendency to scream certain words.) The poor patient in the next bed was certainly not Josephine, and the family surrounding her had to keep reminding May of this. When we went in to see what was wrong she would proclaim, "It's JOSEPHINE, my SISTER, SHE'S ALIVE!!!" While my first instinct is to chuckle, I suddenly became very sad. What will happen when I lose my mind and call out for my sisters?? I know we laugh and play Carmel and Francie and hold each others elbows walking down a slippery path, but all I hope for now is for that to really happen, that we all may live together and take care of each other, through three D's that often accompany old age: dentures, diapers and dementia. 

Didn't mean to get all morbid on y'all, but that's what happens working with geriatrics....more posts later will promise to be HAPPY....