Hospital Calls

I've been visiting a lot of hospitals and nursing homes lately. Yesterday, partly due to being so far behind in home visits because of weather and illness, partly due to the number of people in the hospital, I visited 7 people. It was my entire day. It was a nice day; I enjoy it. But, I wouldn't want to do that all the time.

Earlier this week, as I was leaving one of the hospitals, I was thinking to myself that it would be somewhat nice to have to be in one for a little while. I wouldn't want to be horribly sick, but to lay in bed, have people bring me food and drink, watch tv or sleep. Yes, I'm feeling tired.

Just as I was thinking to myself "nothing too serious, but enough that I got to stay overnight" I crossed paths with a man I know. He told me that he was visiting his wife for the one-hundred and something day in a row (he knew the exact number). He talked about his car knowing the way to the hospital. He looked exhausted.

So, no. I do not want to go into the hospital. Not really (though, if anyone wants to come and bring me food and drink while I lay around and watch tv, you're welcome to it...I just need to get that work ethic off my back!). And, I am thankful for those hospitals that I've been visiting - the care, the cleanliness, the attitudes of the staff, the advances of technology and the well-roundedness that includes hospital chaplains I can call when I'm too sick to visit.