Teresian House

I don’t have any family at the Teresian so I am not a costumer. I volunteer once a month to do chair massage on the residents, so I do have some friends here.
The residents like to be touched, they also like very much to be listened Not everybody. sometimes they are cranky, sometimes in tears, some have no idea where they are as they have suffered some form stroke or other brain injuring trauma. Some are singing loudly and get sassy with the staff here.
They are all taken care of here and I really can’t imagine how hard it is. This work takes a special kind of person, Truthfully, sometimes when I’m done I feel kind of depressed because I know that’s what it looks like to get old, and the reality of that is hard to bear. It’s not always fun. Lots of things hurt, and there are some legitimate reasons to be cranky.
The staff doesn’t let anything get them down. They are funny and feisty, and turn stress into entertainment instead of resentment.
There is a community among the residents and staff. This is their life and they take pride in knowing who is in their community. There is some gossip and more popular residents. I see now that these things never go away. If it happened in third grade, it’s part of who we are.
I’ve seen residents get worse in their conditions, and I’ve seen residents I’ll never see again. Overall they seem happy. They’ve made peace with this far more bravely than I see myself being able too. They love it when we’re there, and I think get genuine relief and even if it’s short lived we help them feel good for a while.
Humas crave contact, and it’s not rocket science for anybody that has a pet to transfer that to a human. Rub your gramdma/​pa shoulders sometime if you still have them. They’ll get a kick out of it. Be gentle and ask for feedback at first.