Nursing home visit

Well I couldn't find one of my post from october. I must have done something wrong and it never was published. Well I went to a nursing home to help out with mass and observe the anointing of the sick. It was really amazing to see the elderly so excited be able to attend mass at the nursing home. It is really a highlight of their day. most of the elderly from the whole nursing home was there. I had to stand in the corner. My job was pass out song sheets and rosarys. I suprised about how many family members come in from the community to attend mass with their loved ones. I noticed a couple in the back. He was sick with a terminal illness, he couldn't swallow very well so he had to spit out all his saliva. She was very helpful and ok with the fact that he couldn't help it. She helped and supported him, you could see the love just pouring out of each other. It was one of those bitter sweet experiences.
After mass, we visited a lady that was diagnosised with MS at the age of 15. By the time she was 20 she had to stop working and needed assists with all her daily activities. She is now blind by she has a good sense of vision. She knew was I was in the room. It was amazing we talked about how she lived her life and never was bitter about the disease. She told me that you need your time to experience all you can! You never know when you can come down with a disbilitating disease.
Just to wrap this whole service learning experience up, I learned alot from the members of the St. Joesph the worker community and the community of Dubuque. All the people I visited with told me stories about growing up and living in Dubuque and it just made me appreciate what it has to offer today. It was very interesting hearing from the people. They love Dubuque and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I met people that have lived in totally different ways of life. but they all said that the parish and their faith was always the center of their lives. They told me that they could not get through the hard times of life with out God, family and friends.