When Clarence and his wife...
Illustration
When Clarence and his wife, Ruth, sold their home and moved into their new apartment at Heritage Acres, they had no way of knowing that cancer had already invaded Ruth's body. Three years later she was gone, leaving Clarence to live alone for the first time in 59 years.
For the first year and a half he seemed to cope pretty well. He spent time with others in the lounge, often sharing one of his many stories. Craft time usually found him making something out of leather for one of his friends. But then in the last six months, his smile faded, his pace slowed, the stories in the lounge ceased and his eyes lost their sparkle. He began to spend more and more time by himself in his room. Soon, he was asking for his meals to be brought to his room. And, it wasn't long after that when the aides noticed that most of his food was coming back to the kitchen.
Then along came Kristin, an energetic 17-year-old girl who helped in the kitchen after school. She heard about Clarence and decided to intervene. For seven days in a row, she carried his supper in to him, told him how good it was, shared a story with him as he sat and stared out the window. On the seventh day, he laughed at her funny story, thanked her for caring, and then began to tell her a story of his own as he wolfed down his supper for the first time in weeks.
-- Thompson
For the first year and a half he seemed to cope pretty well. He spent time with others in the lounge, often sharing one of his many stories. Craft time usually found him making something out of leather for one of his friends. But then in the last six months, his smile faded, his pace slowed, the stories in the lounge ceased and his eyes lost their sparkle. He began to spend more and more time by himself in his room. Soon, he was asking for his meals to be brought to his room. And, it wasn't long after that when the aides noticed that most of his food was coming back to the kitchen.
Then along came Kristin, an energetic 17-year-old girl who helped in the kitchen after school. She heard about Clarence and decided to intervene. For seven days in a row, she carried his supper in to him, told him how good it was, shared a story with him as he sat and stared out the window. On the seventh day, he laughed at her funny story, thanked her for caring, and then began to tell her a story of his own as he wolfed down his supper for the first time in weeks.
-- Thompson
