friday

Today was my last friday classes of the fall semester, my last class of my last fall semester as an undergrad.
Im really going to miss mental health, really liked it and may do it in the future. In class we talked a bit about the elderly population's mental health issues in terms of dementia and delirium. One of the signs/symptoms of dementia is wandering/forgetting where one is...this made me think of little old jerry at the nursing home constantly wheeling up the the front desk asking where he could get a room/ where his room is and getting so frusterated with me and demanding that I show him, which eventually became our ritual.
After mental we had our community health presentations based off of our aggregate papers all of our clinical groups had written. My group had done childhood immunizations and then had a teaching project with the GRADS program in Fulton County which teaches teen parents or expecting teens parents. It was an interesting program that kept teens in school and was moving towards graduating high school as well as educating on effective parenting. The woman in charge was a pleasure to get to know, and lived such an eventful life that I cant imagine living myself. She had true empathy for these kids and worked as their advocate in society. I hope I can use my own voice in this way for some sort of population.
Which leads me back to the mental health class where our teacher talked about the "clinical gerontological nurse practicioner" . I know that I will go to grad school eventually and in 2 years it will be a doctorate program because they are getting rid of the masters in nursing...i just dont quite know what area i would go in. Basically of the choices it has come down to gero, women's, and addiction specialist. But lets behonest, while women's health and addictions truly interest me, it has always been my love of old people that leads me. So we shall see where that goes, it was just something I can totally picture myself falling into, working either with geri-psych or a long term care facility,
All of this pondering has led me to truly miss my Betty Boo, I plan on seeing her on Christmas Eve, and I want to make the event special for her in some way because I know she will be alone as her sister has her own plans to persue for christmas. Christmas is a hard time for her because it was on christmas that she sat down with her husband in the morning, offered him one of the many gifts she had got him and was told "i dont want anything from you this christmas but a divorce" which betty was devistated to hear.
she said she had cleaned out his drawers (i cant recall if this was after he said this or weeks before while putting his laundry away) and found a envelope of letters from another woman talking about being with him, several letters that were replies to ones he must have sent. she said on christmas he admitted to the affair and was going to leave Betty for this other woman. This same man also turned Betty's only son away from her. While Betty did find love again, her beloved passed away as I am sure i have mentioned in previous posts. Therefore, she probably needs some cheering up for the holidays.
I dont know what i can do that will be big enough as i wish it could be, ill have to keep thinking but i cant stand the thought of her not being with people on christmas, or for any of the residents for that matter......i want to take them all with me to my own family party but something tells me wheeling in a bunch of incontinent and confused older adults wouldnt be the holiday dream for others that it is for me.
none the less, i have to do what i can.