Alone

Those of us from the clinic saw only a fragment of Richard's life, hiscontacts with health care. We experienced the visits to the ER, thedisruptions of the clinic, and the frustrations of those caring for him.Richard could be a handful at times. Who can blame doctors and residentsand nurses and receptionists for wanting convenient regularly scheduledwork and job functions?

Most would see Richard's life as a waste. He had no money, few friends, nofamily, a history of severe mental problems, chronic painful disablingmedical conditions, etc. For fun Richard visited people, bummed cigarettes,and collected things like cans, carts, baseball cards, and items that wouldnot sell at the worst garage sale. He did have a place to live but littleelse.

To be around Richard was to experience abuse. He was abused by all segmentsof society, criminals, doctors, and officials alike. Some of the worstabuse came from those most like Richard.

But he continued to choose to live and live life as best as he could.

Others might see Richard's death as a waste, but Richard did not die afutile death. First of all He loved Jesus. Second, he taught those who hadthe privilege of knowing him much. He taught about enduring suffering and hardship, about how easy it is for us not to care for people like Richard, about how hard it is to quit smoking, and about how even a few words or simple trinkets given as gifts can mean so much.

Richard taught me about different levels of communication between doctorsand patients. He taught me about the superficial level that we most oftenuse. We moved on to the level where I understood how personal issuesaffected his medical care. Finally, I saw how Richard lived and what wasimportant to him. I still get the feeling that there was something else tolearn, but this will have to come from another patient or friend.

Deaths make us reflective. In the final months, I was more distant fromRichard. In a sense I gave up. I suspect that I felt that I could do littlefor Richard when he returned to Jackson Towers. Perhaps I still need helpgetting over being a physician with certain expectations of those aroundme. In this area, Richard does far better than I. As I reflect on his lifehe did not let expectations cloud his judgment. In some ways this was mostremarkable.

Despite years of abuse, he still trusted people. He lost a TV, monthlychecks, and countless possessions to those who took advantage of him. Evennear the end of life, when he knew things were too good to be true, hestill went out on a limb to try out assisted living at our request. Perhapshe felt that we had given him little choice and would not be as close tohim if he did not do this. Unfortunately Richardwas right. The rules were not what they seemed and he returned to his homein public housing. Sadly I did not make as good an adjustment. My last daywith him was at the clinic. I got him some food and medicine and we droveto the county health department to figure out what happened with mentalhealth and assisted living, then we went to the pharmacy and then I tookhim home. I waited too long to return to visit.

He did endure much at the hands of those around him.

If Richard can endure such suffering and maintain faith in God and inpeople, certainly I should be able to do so.

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Today's Daily Wisdom is written by Robert C. Bowman, M.D. He is a family physician and medical educator in Omaha, Nebraska. After attending college at Lamar University, medical school at Baylor in Houston, he was called to rural practice in Nowata Oklahoma. In additiona to being a rural medical educator, attempting to graduate more rural physicians he is the Co-Chair of the Group on Rural Health of the National Rural Health Association. He attends King of Kings Lutheran inOmaha. His wife JoAnn teaches school. They have 3 children ages 8, 16, and 17.

Today's Daily Wisdom post was edited by Keith Todd, moderator of theSermon Fodder list which offers Christian humor and modern day parables forenjoyment and for use as sermon illustration material. To subscribe go to http://www.sermonfodder.com or drop an email note to Sermon_Fodder-subscribe@yahoogroups.com