MY SMALL TOWN

I grew up in a small town south of San Francisco. I attended grammar school and high school there. When I was twenty-three, I moved to another town a few miles south.

I now live about ninety miles north and seldom run into anyone from my small town. I am always so surprised when I do. It always feels like I have met a kindred spirit. I meet so many people doing my work, but seldom ask someone where they grew up. Quite often, patients and families tell their family stories and will share where they grew up. More often than not, it is another state.

I had two admissions today; one in the morning and one early afternoon. Both women lived in the same facility, although in totally separate areas from each other. Both of these women were quite elderly and did not sit in on the Admission Visit. In the morning visit, I met with the patient's son, "Will", and his mother-in-law, "Sylvia". The two of them started to share the patient's history and did some life review.

Sylvia was near the patient's age and started to share some of her life history. She started to talk about places that I knew so well from growing up. It was them that I asked her where did she grow up. The moment we found out we grew up in the same town, we started sharing places we knew and loved. We both agreed that it felt like we were kindred spirits from having a similar background.

During the afternoon visit, I met with the patient's daughter, "Diana", in a sitting room. Diana's mom has dementia so it was best for us to meet in a conference room. Diana, too, started to share her family's history and life. She, like Sylvia, started to share stories about areas that I was so familiar with. So once again, I had to ask where did she grow up. Surprisingly, she also answered my small town.

With Sylvia and Diana, we could not connect any dots, as both were older than I and we all went to different schools. I still wouldn't have been surprised, if we had more time, that we would have found a connection. All I can say is, what an amazing coincidence!!


MY SMALL TOWN

I grew up in a small town
about ninety miles south of here.
I seldom run into anyone from there
and am always surprised when I do.

I admitted two patients to hospice today.
Both reside in the same facility,
although one in Assisted Living;
while the other in Memory Care.

Seldom do I ask anyone where they grew up,
but in both of these visits the question came up.
The adult children were talking about the early years.
Sharing their mother's life events and experiences.

Each child shared places that I knew about.
Places that were close to where I grew up.
So I just had to ask each of them,
"Where did you grow up?"

To my shock and surprise,
both answered the same.
They were raised the same place I was,
living about one mile from me.

We are different ages
and went to different schools,
but had one major thing in common;
             My small town.