Chums for Mum

Article submitted by Terisa Clarke of Chums for Mum. She can be reached at 303 704-3088.

More than 200,000 people in the Metro area are seniors. There are countless numbers of elderly individuals, many living independently, who find themselves alone and lonely. They feel they have nobody to whom they can turn for help attending to daily needs or for personal contact. Many are in need of physical and emotional support and have insufficient connection outside the home to make even a slight alteration in their circumstances. Others have family close by but due to the demands of an ever challenging and stressful society members are not always available for the companionship, stimulation and support that is needed. For some seniors the simplest daily activity becomes a hurdle, often too difficult to overcome, and leading in many instances to a feeling of desperate vulnerability. With advances in medicine and the establishment of community organizations, the average senior is well able to remain at home with medical care and non-medical services provided on-site as needed.

Our seniors are a unique generation having survived the vagaries of economic depression, uncertain wars and the indiscreet ravages of failing health. Their golden years should be better than a life of abandonment and loneliness. Retirement can so easily be about doing what you please with your time. Too often it is unlike anything we imagine; a period filled with absence; no interest, no stimulation no new ideas; no friends to drop by; no children to console and advise, no grandchildren to chase after.

Visitation programs enable seniors, homebound patients and those residents in care facilities feel the comfort and security of knowing that they have not been forgotten. One of the charms of bringing a measure of reassurance to our aging population is its simplicity; the smallest pleasure is mildly thrilling; a listening ear, a kind heart and a sense of humor is, after all, a small contribution to a gracious and decent life. Feeling like a member of an unwanted sub-class that everyone wishes would disappear is not the achievement we want for our senior citizens. With scheduled and specifically tailored visitation, an individual can reclaim a life that is abundant and full of meaning. Just by engaging conversation, reviewing old photographs, puzzles and games, embarking on short outings, lives are enriched and stimulated by a compassionate and well-meaning companion. So often, the difference between a life of lamentable indifference, isolation and solitude and days enriched with delight and enchantment is one good visitor with a better idea.

In today's society we cannot always be there for our elders, but a visitor, a companion can. Let them enjoy the fruits of their labor with a loyal friend. They have earned it; let their golden years be truly golden.