A lifetime in 15 minutes

Time stood still for me today.  No lie!  I walked into a patient's room and time stopped! There he was... an adorable old man who wears his shoes every time he walks "because they give me good stability".  I asked all the usual questions: Are you in pain? Have you fallen recently? May I test your arm strength? But the answers I received were brilliant.  "Maybe a little bit... in my buttocks"  "Well yes... but my family never lets me walk anywhere without one of them in front of me and one of them behind me.  So my son-in-law saw me starting to fall and he just grabbed me and lowered me to the ground"  "My right hand is weak because I fell out of an airplane... it's okay... it was still on the ground"   Minutes turned into years and before I knew it we were bearing our hearts to each other.  He told me about living with his daughter and feeling like he is robbing her of her life.  And I started to cry.  (Work cry of course.... eyes filled with tears but no spillage... but I could have wept right there)  And suddenly he was my own dad... needing a bit of help to get in and out of bed and having a nurse come to the house 3 times a week to bath him.  Behind his statement I heard the "I am old and not worth much anymore... definitely not worth the time of someone young with so much life left to live."  So I let him have it... I told him he was worth every damn minute of her life and mine too... of course it was tempered a bit differently but I think he heard my heart. I am pretty sure he started to cry (War veteran's cry of course... reddening of the eyes but no spillage) I also heard him say "they just don't listen to me." Now as I am sitting at home... years older from my 15 minute encounter with a beautiful life... I wonder about the line between care and respect.  Do we children care so much that we forget to listen to the simplest request?  "Go out with your friends, I will be ok here for 2 hours." Do we begin to hover to the point of debilitating our loved ones?  "Seriously kid, I can put on my own shoes... not the way I used to... but necessity gives birth to invention."  As I left my friend he told me to keep on smiling and I threw him my best EVER smile!  He chuckled and I felt like I could conquer the world.