Saturday at the Nursing Home

Since this forum is about Health, I thought I'd post how I spent yesterday, with a glimpse of an older man (probably in his late 70's) still trying to live some of his life.

My day was not a typical fall saturday. The nursing home 125 miles away where my mother is a resident hosted a family brunch. For entertainment, they had an old-time Bluegrass group (mostly gospel kinda songs) to sing and play.

I was quite impressed as the "Dad" of the group is actually also a resident of the nursing home and he played guitar and sang with his family: 2 sons (maybe grandsons? on banjo and guitar), 2 daughters (maybe granddaughters?) on guitar and string bass) and a 10 year-old great grandson who played an 8-string mandolin. (I'm just guessing at ages and relationships, but the important thing is the elderly "Dad".)

"Dad" has a palsy so bad he could barely hold the guitar or his pick, but once he started strumming, he seemed to lose the palsy and many years off his age! (The grandson was also terrific and played lead on several songs.)

So many of the residents are not ambulatory any longer, with a few even sadly seeming like vegetables. It was wonderful to see their eyes light up with the entertainment. My mother is an example of someone who has "quit" doing much since her stroke, and at this rate, soon will not be able to do anything. Quite a contrast with the "Dad" who played and sang with as much gusto as he could.

I guess the message for me is the attitude of getting to better health by a better diet, and keeping as active as I can, physically and mentally.