"The Manor"

The hallway smelled like urine and the doors to each room were stained with years of dirt. Through open doorways I could see frail bodies crumpled into balls on cots. As we followed the director of the nursing home down corridor after corridor, my heart was wrenched with sadness at these forgotten peoples lives. The worst part...I wasn't in some third world country, I was next door to my home. And when I say next door, I mean next door. I can see into the concrete courtyard of the nursing home from the windows of the apartment where I live with all of the DTS girls.
For over a year I have walked by, driven by The Manor and felt a stirring in my heart to help in some way. The morning I finally walked in there to offer the help of 16 young people, the activity's director threw her hands up and said, " I prayed for you all this morning!"
So there we were pushing wheel chairs down the hall, serving coffee, juice and cookies and just listening to people who were desperate to be heard. I listened to a Mexican man named Bernardo tell me over and over again how him and his wife had worked really hard all their lives to have nice things and how they never even had children because they just wanted to work hard. Now Bernardo's wife is gone, he has no children and he sits alone with only an occasional cigarette to look forward to.
So here we are, being used to bring a little light and love into ordinarily dark and lonely days. Here we are taking blind people for walks when they would normally just lie in bed all day every day. My heart hurts for these forgotten ones, I wish I could spend hours upon hours with each and every one. For now I'll do the little that I can and pray for more hearts to be touched to come and give a little of their life and their love.