Posted in abuse, anger, children, crime, death, depression, divorce, emotions, encouragement, family, fathers, finances, friendship, Frustration, grief, health, help, husband, ideas, Impact, life, loss, love, medical, mental and physical health, mom, mother, murder, news, observations, opinion, pain and misery, protect, relationships, sadness, suicidal, suicide, Suicide prevention, support, trauma, violence, tagged anger, caring, children, clergy, community, confusion, counselor, depression, despair, desperate, emotion, family, feelings, finances, guilt, healing, health, help, hurting, lifeline, love, loved ones, medical help, mental health, murder-suicide, national suicide prevention, neighbors, news, prevention, resource, revenge, sadness, stop, struggles, suffering, support, survivors, tragedy, violence on January 30, 2009|
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Ok, I am going to rant a bit for a minute. Twice this week the news has hit us with two terrible stories about families that self-destructed through murder-suicide. Two families that were destroyed. One family in particular left a suicide note allegedly saying that the reason they were dead was because both the husband and the wife lost their jobs…were in debt…and were rejected by their employers. The other family’s reasons have not yet been announced. The family members allegedly say that there was no clues to this tragedy. What i want to know is…can we stop families from hurting the ones that they love? Yes we can, encourage them to seek help: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ Each time something like this happens…those who were lost leave behind friends, family members, neighbors, acquaintances and community members who are hurt, confused and saddened. We have to take care of each other and learn to be more in tune with those around us. (more…)
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Posted in abuse, anger, children, crime, culture, elderly, emergency, emotions, failure, family, friendship, health, Heart, help, home, Impact, law enforcement, life, loneliness, medical, mental and physical health, news, pain and misery, relationships, respect, sadness, service, support, surgery, Uncategorized, well-being, tagged abilities, abuse, anger, authorities, blessed, caring, chores, concern, condemned, culture, elderly, emergency personel, failure, family, friends, health, Heart, help, home, laundry, loneliness, loving, medical help, medical issues, memory issues, mental and physical, mental illness, neglect, neighbors, outrage, quality of life, respect, shoveling, social workers, support, surgery, tasks, unsteady, visit, well-being on November 27, 2008|
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I don’t know about you but hearing about the elderly being abused makes me mad. Yesterday on my home television station there was a terrible story about a elderly woman who was allegedly abused by her own son.
She was left on her couch allegedly for approximately three weeks without medical help. She was so weak from lack of food and fluids that she could not even get up off of her couch. Her home was so filthy with her own waste that the emergency workers and police who checked on her, became violently ill in the front yard of the home. It sounds as if the woman’s social security checks were being cashed regularily though. The news reports say that the woman allegedly did not have a shower/bath for up to one year!
The poor woman has had to have surgery…her home was in such disrepair that it was condemned by the authorities. Where in the world has respect for life gone? This is a failure of our culture to fail to make sure that all of our older friends and relatives are nurtured, cherished and protected. Sometimes, the elderly deal with memory issues or mental illness; this is an especially important circumstance to get social workers and medical personel involved with, especially if they don’t have a close supportive family system in place. It would be bad enough if this was an isolated case in our country; but, it is not.
Everyday the elderly are abused and neglected in their homes, in medical facilities, in nursing homes and on the streets. It is an outrage. Yes, the elderly require time and attention. Yes, it can be difficult for the caregiver; as they are loosing their independence and ability to do many of life’s chores on their own and often they resent that fact; however, it is important to take loving care of our elders. Time is short and spending time with your loved ones is special. You can never get that time back with them once they are gone. The difficult and challenging times will pass. The elders in your community have many memories and experiences to share; take advantage of that time with them to store up knowledge and memories.
Just showing some caring and concern for the elders can make a difference in the quality of life for them. Offer to do a kindness for them such as pick up their mail for them; or walk their dog…take them to medical appointments, or grocery shopping. Some tasks are too difficult for an elderly person who is unsteady or has medical issues; like, going up and down stairs to do laundry or shoveling their walkways or raking leaves.
We all will be elderly one day if we are blessed to live long enough. Please, check up on your elderly neighbors, your parents, your friends; visit with them and help to relieve their loneliness. If you see someone abusing or neglecting an older person (or any person for that matter) get involved…call the authorities! You never know…you could be saving a life. If you suspect elder abuse report it: http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/ncearoot/Main_Site/index.aspx
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