On June 5th and 6th 2012, the world was able to witness planet Venus passing across the face of the sun for about 6 hours causing a small black dot to appear on the sun’s surface. This event will not reoccur until 2117. I didn’t see the passing in 2012, and I can confidently say I will not see it in 2117. Yet in my world of being a geriatric consultant, I did see something equally as extraordinary. A senior adult called this Aging Life Care® Consultant to inquire about my services and how I might, one day, help her. A senior adult inquiring about help for herself, as rare as Venus passing across the sun.
This call was a first for me. I was accustomed to counseling adult children in such matters as dementia, in-home and residential alternatives, and overcoming parental resistance. I asked Isabel (not her real name) what prompted her call. She explained that her adult children lived at a distance, and she wanted to prepare for whatever the future may hold. She was 84. There was nothing compelling going on at the time, so I described how I could potentially be of help. A year later, I heard back from Isabel. She asked that I come to her home so that she could meet me and vice versa. Two years passed before I heard from her again, this time she asked if I could help her find a companion for a couple of days a week. Because I had done what we call in the trade, “a meet and greet,” I had a good idea of what type of companion would work best with her. Luckily, she was available, and the match was a successful one.
The passage of time brought conditions that required more care and eventually the need for a fulltime companion. None of this lessened Isabel’s astuteness to her needs, especially her hearing loss which was impacting on the activities she enjoyed in the community and with friends and families. I am accustomed to seniors finding less effective and more irritating hearing solutions telling others: “To just speak louder.” Not Isabel. In keeping with this proactive senior, she headed to an audiologist to be fitted for hearing aids. They have helped, but even with regular adjustments, not to the degree she hoped.
With her mood now wavering and her age passing 88, we spoke about how the diverse world she was accustomed to was receding. Her family suggested consulting with her doctor about an anti-depressant which Isabel thought might be helpful (Again, I am more familiar with the response: “who needs that, I’m not crazy”). Not surprisingly, Isabel also asked me to recommend books about getting older. I mean getting older…. the real McCoy. Step aside Nora Ephron. The vicissitudes of accepting that you have less days on this earth than more. And with some research I shared three books with Isabel that would support what she was feeling.
- Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying
- Growing Old: Notes on Aging with Something Like Grace
- Helping Yourself Grow Old: Things I Said to Myself When I Was Almost Ninety
Currently, Isabel and I chat on a regularly irregular basis. Sometimes short because a Zoom is about to start, other times longer. She leads me. I always like to know what she is reading, and we exchange names of books we have enjoyed. Truth be told, some of her nonfiction book recommendations are beyond my comprehension.
As an eldercare consultant I have always felt in the giving, there is receiving. It is so much the case with Isabel. And when the opportunity presents itself, I always remind her that she is my role model. I am not waiting for Venus to pass across the sun.
