Around 6 am another elderly woman in a wheel chair was settled into a bed just to the right of mine. \u00a0(Our four bed room was filling up.) \u00a0She was apparently dying from a serious illness. \u00a0Covered in a burka and speaking with a thick accent, we knew she was from one of the middle eastern countries. \u00a0Since several people accompanied her into the hospital, I imagined she’d have family members by her side. \u00a0That was not the case. \u00a0She was just as alone as our other roommate. \u00a0 Every so often, we’d hear her moans. \u00a0After a few hours of suffering, she tried to get the nursing staff to help her. \u00a0No one came.<\/p>\n
She began crying out over and over: “Help me. \u00a0Somebody help me. \u00a0God will bless you if you help me.” \u00a0In her last days, no one was at her side assisting through the maze of absent doctors; overworked, understaffed nurses; and a medical system designed to minimize rather than administer care.<\/p>\n
More information came to light about the “roommate” across from me. \u00a0 The doctor sent her home early. \u00a0That’s how socialized medicine works. \u00a0She needed longterm care but to receive it, she had to relinquish her home and all her possessions. \u00a0Her husband died decades earlier. \u00a0Her daughter was uninterested. \u00a0We were never clear about a son. \u00a0 She recalled WWII and mumbled something about a pension. \u00a0The hospital fed her, made her feel loved. \u00a0“I don’t want to be alone” she’d mumble off and on.<\/p>\n
With two elderly women struggling in our room–one to my right, and one directly across–we were kept busy. \u00a0Brian rang the attendant buzzer for the lady beside me. \u00a0The nurse finally appeared. \u00a0 Slightly agitated that the call was for another patient, she administered aid to soothe the woman’s pain. \u00a0She quieted. \u00a0Brian and I spoke off and on to the woman across from me.<\/p>\n
The words spoken by the priest a day earlier came to mind. \u00a0God commands children to honor their mothers yet none were present for either of these two women. \u00a0Is this what God wanted me to understand? \u00a0 Was there a reason enough to justify abandonment? \u00a0Does God even allow reasons? \u00a0This one commandment from God himself is the first to come with a blessing and a promise–a long life follows honoring one’s earthly parent:<\/p>\n
EXODUS 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”<\/em><\/p>\n
DEUTERONOMY 5:16 “Honor your Father and mother as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”<\/em><\/p>\n
\u00a0EPHESIANS 6:2 “Honor thy father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
No honoring or love, no caring or obedience. \u00a0My heart aches even more than my arm. \u00a0Where are the children?<\/p>\n
Instead of being released; the doctors moved me onto another nursing floor–one specifically for orthopedics. \u00a0A specialist would look at my arm during a surgical procedure to see every angle of it by using a special CT or MRI. \u00a0If it were determined there was no need of additional surgery to repair the arm, a soft cast would be placed on it.<\/p>\n
God has not yet said, \u201cNo don\u2019t go\u201d \u00a0This diversion has a purpose, of that I’m sure!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Around 6 am another elderly woman in a wheel chair was settled into a bed just to the right of mine. (Our four bed room was filling up.) She was apparently dying from a serious illness. Covered in a burka and speaking with a thick accent, we knew she was from one of the middle… <\/p>\n