My Unusual Job...

Unusual for me, that is. I'm a Comfort Keeper, or companion to elderly people. Yes, Michaela the Narcissistic, the Caustic, the Impatient. But I haven't been fired yet. And I'm mostly enjoying it, at least as a break from my customary self-absorbed, stressful, cerebral activities. It's theraputic to be professionally calm, friendly and helpful all day. And old people are interesting. At first they seem like a different species altogether from people in the prime of life. Most of them sleep, sit, and eat. They like to talk about when they were young, and they crave attention and respect from younger people. They're set in their habits and cling strongly to their beliefs. But on better acquaintance I realized that age is not the fundamental difference. Personality still prevails. One man I take care of likes to eat and watch television-he dreads having to get dressed and go out. Another has dementia, but has been energetic all his life, so he needs a new activity every 15 min (at least you can return to an activity you did earlier and he won't remember)! If you took mobility, sharpness of mind, and the expectation of a future away from a twenty-two-year-old, he would probably live with less dignity and fortitude than a ninety-two-year-old.