Old age and Death

Hello all,
Since we are all spread out and separated by many waters and lands I know everyone will get to see this so its easier writing here than telling the story multiple times.

On Monday I had a big day. My first 2 patients, one was one year old and the other was 92. The sad thing is they were functioning at about the same level. The old man was as stubborn and old-school as they come. Instead of going for newer smaller hearing aids he wanted to keep his 2 body-worn aids that he keeps in his front pocket with cords leading up to his ears (basically constantly wearing earphones with custom ear molds for his huge ears). He had microphones dangling out his pockets, cords to connect directly into audio systems and of course the wires going up to each ear. All together he had more wires around his body than behind moms computer it seemed like. He came on a bus from Mesa and during the middle of the testing whipped out his city map and was tracking the bus route to get back to the retirement home. Of course to exacerbate the complexity, had an electric wheelchair that he never left. It was jerry-rigged with every contraption you can think of, including a American flag on a pole flying in back, and a stick to hold his top hat. He couldn't hold still if his life depended on it and had to have instructions repeated many times before he understood, at which time he said "affirmative Doc". It goes without saying that the appointment went well over my lunch break but he was very nice about it. All I can say is that when I am 92 I hope I am that cool.

After clinic I had my night counseling class. The topic of the day was death and how different people view death. After a lot of discussion at the end of the class the teacher asked 5 of us to come up in front of the class. When we were there she asked us to each talk about our cultures view of death. I went 4th of 5. Before me was an African American, a Jewish girl and a Native American girl. They all gave complex descriptions of the practical issues surrounding the funeral and traditions that surround the burial. When it was my turn I took a different approach, I took a step back and explained how in order to understand how my culture views death you need to understand how we believe that we lived before we came here and will continue to live after, and this mortal existence is such a short period of time in relation to our eternal existence. I basically gave the class a missionary discussion talking about the premortal existence, the resurection, eternal progression, eternal families and eternal equality for those who die in infancy, have mental/physical disabilities and less opportunity in this life. At the end I briefly mentioned how a funeral would be a simple religious service that is a time of celebration for the individual and minimal grieving. The spirit was very strong in the room and I spoke with authority, confidence and truth which was very different from the other speakers. It was a great experience and helped me realize that I came to Arizona to have opportunities like this, because I am the most comfortable when I am able to express my individuality in terms of my faith. The Catholic that spoke after me looked pretty dumb and unsure of herself too.