The Horror of Being Human

This morning I spent about four hours, as I have every Wednesday for the last six months, with a local woman who has Parkinson's disease. I met her when I responded to a call for volunteers to "keep a lovely woman company a few hours a week."

An average person

While I have come to really like this woman, her disease is so debilitating that there is little we can do together while I am visiting. We work on jigsaw puzzles when she is up to it. I fix her lunch and help her eat it. I help her in the bathroom. If she is well enough and weather permitting, we might go for a 10 minute walk outside. During the summer we sat in the sun for about half an hour or so. (Daily sunshine is beneficial for Parkinson's patients.) 

This woman is 68 years old. She led a full life as an artist before this disease robbed her of everything. Her two grown sons live in distant states and do not ever visit. She has a sister who lives nearby who does not ever visit. She has two grandchildren she has not seen in three years or more. She had a vibrant network of friends in town who never, ever visit or call.

Her husband is her caretaker. He still works, besides doing all the shopping and cooking, and so must try to cover his hours away from home somehow. I am one of those ways, but four hours a week is a spit in the ocean. Here's my point: Human beings suck. What happened to all of her friends? Where are the two children she raised to adulthood? Why don't any of the neighbors she has known for more than 20 years ever stop by to say hello?

What do you think would happen to you if you got a debilitating disease? If you are counting on human beings coming to your rescue to help you cope, cheer you up and bring you some relief, forget it. Humans don't work that way. Just pray to God every minute of your life that you don't ever need to depend on people for anything.