My View of the VA
PFC Muñoz, Benjamin
Class 13-015
My View of the VA
The VA is not a place where I would like to see myself in any future. This is the secod time ive been to the VA, and my feelings about it are the same as the first time around. Everywhere I look I feel as though the residents would like to not be there, that theyd like to leave or be somewhere else, if not for the fact that they are all heavily medicated or cant easily move around, I’m sure more than one would walk out. I know that it is my thoughts and feeling, along with many fears about growing older that lead me to believe this, but I cant help but imagine that most of them would choose to not live under the given circumstances. To go from being able to provide everything you need for yourself, to not being able to have many choices over much of your own life. I find myself being scared by the aging process and the toll it takes on your mind and body. I feel like their minds are trapped in their bodies, wanting to do many things, but being limited to what their bodies can handle. Not being able to lead a normal life as before and take care of ones self is a scary thought. I feel as though I am a bad person for saying such things, but I don’t feel like living life without being able to move or communicate is a rich fulfilling life that many look forward to. Even with all this said, it is a mixed feeling of joy and sadness watching them, what they’ve seen, their past, what they’ve done, but in the end I still wander if this is what they want for themselves.
First thing in the morning is to wake up, and get ready for breakfast, I can’t do it on my own so the help of some of the nurses is required. They’ve seen every inch of my body now, something that not even I have done, they know me better than I do myself now a days. I wish I could tell them to be more gentle, but I really can’t say much or anything at all for that matter. They place me in gurney and off to the dining area we go....