Today's painting:- Good Vibrations.----Where's all the loving care?

Good Vibrations-acrylic on canvas----see website.

http://www.maureenhughes.artspan.com/

This morning we were off to an early start. First, the coffee shop

to wish Joe 'Happy Birthday'.Back home,

 then Joe -to the dentist;it's always good to see Klaus,

but not so good lying in the chair with open mouth

trying to respond  in some kind of audible way

to his usual animated conversation

on topical social issues!

Then it will be a visit to a dear old friend, who

stays in a home for the elderly nearby.

I have to say this, but the visit there draws

out of me a  mix  of  strong emotion.

It was just over a year ago that we visited her in

quite a different setting.Her little flat

was light, bright colourful,

full of lovely 'treasures' sentimentally

preserved through the years.The smell

of her baking was always a welcome greeting.

Her smile was joyful, lively.

Today, her setting is different.In the 'Home'

she certainly has all the basics:-a private

room with bathroom facilities and a comfortable bed.

She pays for this though, and so is more fortunate than many.

There is little space for her small  momentos,

or her bright kitchen accessories,-it's a drab colouring.

Outside her room, although there are many 'sitting rooms'

there are few social activities

taking place, they too are cold and bare,

lacking  a comforting atmosphere.

Most of the carers are good, but they seem

continually 'rushed off their feet,

so have little time for chatting'.

Each time I leave with a feeling of overwhelming

sadness.I know that the issue is a complex one

in today's society; I just feel that in

 its so called advancement, it needs to aaccept, recognise

and preserve the value  and the power of love, otherwise

life is totally without meaning.

I remember when reading about Mother Teresa

and an experience she had in London.

One day on passing a 'down and out' on the pavement

she instinctively reached out to touch him.

His eyes lit up and he smiled at her as he told her

----'it's wonderful to just feel the warmth of

a human hand.'

My constant prayer for our friend

is that each day she will know and feel for sure

the warmth of a human hand.

It is too my prayer for everyone.

Mo.