20/08/2025
Old People Diary
The morning light filtered softly through the curtains, gently illuminating Auntie’s room, as if careful not to disturb the peace.
I brought the blood pressure monitor and began my routine check. As I wrapped the cuff around her arm, she smiled and said, “You’re early today.”
I pressed the measurement button, and the numbers flickered slowly across the screen before settling. My heart sank slightly.
“Auntie, your blood pressure is a bit high today, quite a bit higher than last night,” I said softly, unable to hide my concern.
She looked at me, her eyes glimmering, but without a trace of worry. She didn’t ask any questions. Instead, she smiled gently and said, “My son is at outstation.”
I paused for a moment, then smiled softly. “Yes, I remember you mentioning him. Has he been in touch recently?”
She shook her head, then nodded, her tone vague. “He came to see me.”
Her son visits almost every weekend.
She often forgets whether she’s taken her medicine or what she had for dinner the night before, but when it comes to her son, she always remembers.
I knelt down and gently massaged her calves. She said her feet were hurting, typical for someone her age.
“The weather’s been getting strange lately, hasn’t it? When your feet hurt, you don’t feel well, and your blood pressure goes up,” I said as I continued massaging.
She didn’t respond, just looked up and smiled at me. It was a gentle smile, like a leaf softened by sunlight, lightly resting upon the fabric of life.
After a while, I measured her blood pressure again. This time, the numbers were much lower, and I quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Auntie didn’t look at the machine or ask about the results. Her memory, softened by age and touched by dementia, often let details like these slip away into a quiet fog. She probably didn’t fully understand what those numbers meant.
Was it because of her worries that she had higher blood pressure? Honestly, I had no idea. But somehow, through the gentle haze, she remembered her son is away. And in that remembering, she still cared, still worried, still loved, with a heart that time could not fully blur.
We always worry about her health, afraid she might fall ill, feel tired, or hurt her feet. Yet, deep in her heart, what remains are the warmest and most beautiful memories of when we are by her side.
As children busy themselves with the struggles of life, we know that what weighs most on our hearts are the parents growing older back home.
At Hope Geriatric Lodge, we listen carefully to every word, tenderly caring for each elder’s daily needs and emotional fluctuations. Whether it’s measuring blood pressure, massaging feet, or chatting about their children’s lives, we do everything we can to let them age with peace of mind.
Hope Geriatric Lodge, guarding their twilight years and guarding your love.
#希望之家
