We performed Steering into the Skid in Richland Center, WI, (Fall 2019) and after the performance and facilitated discussion, a gentleman seated at one of the tables, said he wanted to talk to me. I sat down next to him and he proceeded to tell me how the performance affected him and gave him perspective on his own situation. You see, he was a caretaker for his wife and had been for many years. He wanted me to know that, for him, the grief came at the beginning of the disease as his best friend faded away. What he really wanted me to understand was the endurance required to be immersed in that environment nearly 24/7 for years after his partner was gone.
Now, we talk a lot about patients (and patience), and conditions. We use words like caretaker and family member. I have been part of this conversation for five years. I am a veteran. I got up from that table and thanked the gentleman for sharing his truth with me.
I can tell you that I was changed at that moment because here was a 70 something-year-old, male, Midwesterner moved to share the intricacies and intimacies of his life with a complete stranger who he had come to trust.
There is an aching need for this conversation. There is a burning humanity that wants to come forward. To be heard. To be respected. To be acknowledged. To be worthy of our time. This is not polite society. This is impolite society but it is far more valuable. If we can reach folks, touch them and connect them with resources and even possibly with hope for a respite from their day to day existence, we have done an enormous service for our fellow human beings.
