Gary Barg, Editor-in-Chief
Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!
Michael Corleone, The Godfather: Part III
A quick note on something I have written about year after year which has to do with how words can hurt. When my mother’s doctors called her elderly to her face, I saw how the light in her eyes diminished.
My response to a doctor when he said to her, “Well, people who are your age” … was about how hurtful that could be to someone who doesn’t want to be thought of only by her chronological age. I suggested they instead use the phrase “Well, people who are as beautiful as you.” A gentle way to impart the same information.
The next year we wandered into the same situation with another doctor, but that was nothing a trip to the local ice cream parlor couldn’t fix.
I guess, however, that the importance of language needs to be considered by some other members of our loved one’s care team. My friend who is in her mid-seventies and is experiencing neck pain, had been seeing a therapist for months when finally, she was told, “well, there’s nothing we can do for you, it is just because of how old you are…”
Take it away, Paul…
Again, and again and again, Oh now.
Paul McCartney and Wings
Please share your thoughts in the comments box below.