Rachael Wonderlin

As I mentioned before, a lot of my posts come from my own personal experiences in senior homes or with the elderly. I’ve written a lot about Helen, a friend I made while racking up hours for National Honor Society when I was still in high school. After leaving high school, I continued to visit Helen over summer and winter breaks. She’s 96 years old now, and has undergone some serious physical changes since the day we first met. She was always bright, humorous, and strong willed. Now, most of her hearing and most of her eyesight has gone, leaving her with a lot less ability to be mobile and enjoy life. In the past 3 months, her boyfriend (whom she met while she was out dancing later in life, after her husband had passed) had a stroke and was sent down to Florida by his family. Tom used to visit Helen every day, but now he can’t even call her: she can’t hear well enough to talk on the phone.

In case that wasn’t a vivid enough picture of Helen’s new life, I’ll express it in a few words: things have gotten pretty slow and pretty grim. As if her physical ailments are not enough, today I found out something horrific.

A week ago, Helen’s wedding ring was stolen from her.

Someone took my wedding ring.

she said, motioning slowly to her left ring finger.

“What?” I couldn’t believe that. “Someone stole it from you?”

I was hoping that she was confused, perhaps a family member took it to be cleaned, or maybe it got too tight for her finger. Still, usually attendants in the facility will replace a broken or too-tight wedding band with a substitute ring or even the inside of a bottle cap. After probably 70+ years of wearing a ring, to be without one is devastating.

I went to go investigate this by finding a couple nurses. One said she knew that the police had been called the week before, and that the incident was being investigated. So, this was real. Someone had stolen a 96-year-old’s wedding ring. Not only that, but according to Helen’s explanation, the ring was taken off her finger while she was sleeping.

Her roommate hadn’t seen a thing since she was also asleep. “It’s terrible…stuff just disappears around here,” Mary, Helen’s very sweet 95-year-old roommate told me.

Distraught, I looked at the ring I wore on my right ring finger. I took it off and put it on Helen’s left ring finger. She suddenly brightened and told me that it wouldn’t hurt, it would fit. I gave it another push and brought it over her knuckle. “This is for you,” I said. “But now you are missing a ring,” she said sadly. She needed it a lot more than I did.

I have seen and heard of some things that really disgust me about the treatment of the elderly. This, however, has got to be the worst I’ve actually SEEN with my own eyes. Some dirtbag took a woman’s wedding ring, her most prized piece of jewelery, and probably the only thing she has left that hasn’t been taken away already. She is 96 years old. I have only hatred for someone who could do such a terrible, disgusting thing.

image courtesy of: http://www.sbarnabas.com/