BLIND MAN – SEES ALL

A new resident arrived at our Nursing Home; a 92-year-old, petite, poised and proud man, well dressed, his hair was neatly combed and his face shaved perfectly smoothe with a pleasant cologne applied. Even though he is legally blind, he decided to move to our nursing home. His wife of 65 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.

As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I verbally provided a visual description of his tiny room. As we entered, he was ecstatic and said, “I love it,” with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy. “Mr. Roth, please calm down, you know you have a vision problem and cannot see the room.” “That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” he replied.

“Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged … it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. That’s the kind of decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.”

And then he said, “Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away.”