Indiana Orphanage

Hello everyone.  Praise the Lord!

Well, here I am, sitting with the same lady that I sat with last week.  Last week we had a wonderful conversation.  This week she is much weaker and unresponsive.  I am sitting with her and reflecting on the physical change she is going through right before my eyes.  Her disease is now progressing more rapidly!

            I am sitting here feeling sad about her decline, but feeling blessed that I was able to visit with her last week.  It was a very awkward feeling.  As time goes on, I am happy that I could spend a few hours with her.

            Her nurse told me that her daughter is now with her.  I was glad to hear that, because last week she was all alone.  I looked around the room and noticed an old stuffed animal on her bed, and a photo album and a white bag on the couch.  Last week there was no one here.  I’m happy to see that she has some family here now.

            Her husband is in Florida I was told.  He was also in declining health which prevents him from traveling to see her.  She also has a son, maybe he is in Florida with his father.  I don’t know, but I hope so.

            Last week we had a nice conversation.  We didn’t talk about her current family, or her carrier.  Instead we talked about her upbringing in the custody of the State.  I did not ask about her parents, or the rest of her family, and why none of them could take her in, to be raised.

 I perceived that it was a sensitive issue and stayed away from it, unless she brought it up, she did not. It’s my job to bring up the good memories, and stay away from the painful ones.  With death rapidly approaching, the pain will soon be relieved! 

This gentle lady was in two different foster homes as a child, until she was put in the custody of the State of Indiana.  I did not ask why the two foster homes failed, and she did not tell me, maybe she couldn’t remember.  But, regardless of what happened or why, she ended up in an Orphanage of the State of Indiana.

At the orphanage the children had a structured life.  To most of us, that doesn’t sound good.  But to someone coming out of a life of chaos, it’s a god-send.  The children had a dormitory style life, it was efficient.  They had schooling, chores, and rules.  Discipline was strict, but with a lot of kids in one place, they had to keep it under control!

One of the things that the children did, was as they made their beds in the morning, they would tie rags around their feet, which would shine the floor at the same time while making the bed.  Doing two chores at one time would add some play time at the end of the day!

Every Christmas it was a custom at the orphanage that the children would sleep with their feet sticking out from the covers.  Because the meter man would go down the beds and hang candy canes on their toes!  The meter man wanted to do something for the kids on Christmas, and that’s what he did for them.

After she told me those stories, she asked me if we could go out to the garden.  It was a beautiful day outside and I said that we sure can.  I went and got the nurse to disconnect her.  She was taking pain medications intravenously, so we could not go for very long, or the pain would start to return!

After unplugging her, I rolled her in her bed out the back door, and into our back garden.  She really loved it!  She had always loved the outdoors.  After about fifteen minutes, I could tell that she started to struggle a bit.  Ten minutes after that, she said that the pain was getting to be too much and wanted to return to her room.

I rolled her back to her room and hooked her back up to her pain medications.  She was so grateful for that small amount of time in the garden.  I was happy that I could do that for her.  After a few minutes her physical pain subsided, and she could once again relax.  One of my best memories is giving this lady thirty-minutes of joy at our hospice.

Last week it was a great visit for me.  Today, as I sit here with her again, I am remembering the time we had last week.  I quietly watch her resting in bed.  The pain medications are keeping her comfortable, relieving her of the physical pain of cancer.  But, sitting there, I understand that soon, death will free her from the emotional pain she had suffered all of her life.

Do you know of someone who was in an Orphanage?  Can you tell me about t in the comments section?

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Brother Roop