Are you a recovering addict or an elderly dementia patient??

My 82 year old mother-in-law is suffering from dementia and is now living in an assisted living type nursing home. she had lived basically alone (her younger son stayed with her on and off) for the last 20 years. She had collected tons of things in her apartment. So my husband, her eldest son, and i went up to the small town in New Hampshire where he had grown up and set about cleaning out her apartment. WOW...what a daunting job. But this isn't about her apartment.

This is about my visit to her assisted living home. What struck me about this place was how almost identical it was to a rehab center. for addicts. All these elderly people were in some stage of dying. Some were hallucinating, some were angry, some just lie in their beds for most of the day, some did not want to eat, some were wandering in and out of others rooms looking for friendship. Their was a floor of the home for the really ill. The ones who needed 24 hour a day care. And it all reminded me of a rehab house. Except these people had for the most part lived full lives and did not bring any of this on themselves. These people would give anything to be back in the world of the living.

I think maybe rehab centers should be attached to nursing homes and the (recovering) addicts should be made to hang out with the elderly. play games with them. talk to them. hang out. and get some perspective on life. and maybe do a little good for someone else. But, i'm bettin' the elderly may be the ones to do a little good for addicts.

After all, the addict and the elderly dementia patient are basically the same. The only difference is one wants to live and one wants to die. which is which?

Thats all i got for now.