Letter to the editor: Nursing home angels

For many elderly or seriously ill members of our families, their final journey in life starts when they walk through the doors of a nursing home. No longer are the day-to-day cares of their well-being administered by family, relatives or friends, but are placed in the hands of the nursing home staff.

Every day, they watch as nature robs the vitality of many residents. Often, they hear the cries of loneliness, pain and suffering. Their eyes see what most will never understand. Each resident craves the real medicine that is freely given by the nurses and aides. Love.

How many times does a resident hear the footsteps of one of the staff coming into their room with words that express that they are truly someone special?

Most people know the pain of a family member or friend dying. But in a nursing home, the nurses and aides care for patients they may have known for days, months or years and who they truly love; they see them dying on their watch so often that there aren’t enough tears to drown their sorrow.

Few could take hold of a resident’s hand day after day as life on our Earth ends and their spirit leaves the room, hoping it is heaven bound.

A prayer we often say is that we put a loved one’s life into God’s hands. But until God takes charge, he permits the nursing home staff to act on his behalf. We may consider them angels without wings. Who of us would question God’s wisdom?

Daniel Reeping

Sewickley