The man in the power wheelchair

“His name was John (name changed for confidentiality). Due to a stroke, he was confined to a wheelchair, with only partial use of his left side. He was in his 60’s and I was 25 years old, hardly experienced working with older adults or people living with disabilities. I worked in John’s apartment building and I was a social services staff member. The only one for 170 apartments in this high rise building. All seniors and adults with disabilities. My office was on the ground floor and if one was coming in through the side entrance, you would definitely pass my office. That entrance was quite busy. I had an open door policy and boy did John take advantage of this opportunity! I would sometimes leave to see someone in their apartment and when I came back, there he would be. “Hey John, how can I help you?”, I would say. He may ask me to read a piece of mail or help him make a call with his cell phone. Sometimes he would just sit there and stare at me while I worked. In these moments, I learned a lot about just being present for others. Sometimes being present doesn't even need words. John was also a spitfire. He was a small man with a big personality. He wasn’t letting his ailing body define his value or his purpose and he would tell people as much. Sometimes he’d tell them quite harshly and for this reason he didn’t have many friends. But I really admired John. I can imagine his life was quite hard but he would never let you know. He always seemed to find a way to do what he needed to do. And even with his prickly nature, I was so glad to be a part of that for him. One day, after I no longer worked there, I was a good 15 city blocks away from that apartment building doing some other community work. I saw him in that power wheelchair just wheeling around. I said, “what are you doing all the way over here, John?”. He said he was just going for a ride. Whatever he was up to, I'm certain it served him well because he was always focusing on living.

We are capable of a lot more than we know. Sometimes we just need that reminder. I think John impacted me personally and professionally in many ways. I like to utilize a strengths based approach when working with seniors, family caregivers and those living with grief. Because we really do already have that power. We just need to learn how to foster it.”