I have been writing all my memories and experiences going back in increments of decades and 60 years ago right now I was in kindergarten. I decided to look up my kindergarten teacher on the web. She had a real unusual last name, and sure enough I found her. It is a surreal experience to see a woman who is now in her late 80's that you last remember in her 20's as a 5 year old in the '50's.

That brings up a woman I got to know at the skilled nursing facility in Florida who was a retired elementary school teacher in her 90's with dementia. Flo was not my patient, but when my own private duty lady was napping I would help out my Haitian sisters with keeping Flo entertained. She was a handful and always on the go in her wheelchair, rolling up and down the hall and into everybody's business.

Her former students would visit her often, and the majority of them were in there 60' and 70's. She truly had an impact on their lives and I heard many a story about what a wonderful teacher she was who really cared. The amount of birthday and Christmas cards she received when I was there was truly astounding.

One evening my lady was asleep and before I went home I took Flo out on the front porch. She enjoyed seeing all the critters in the lake out front and it gave the other CNA's a break from her. She fell asleep in her wheelchair, which was very unusual for Flo. When I went to bring her back inside I realized she had passed peaceably without a sound. I wheeled her up to the charge nurses' station and she officially confirmed she was dead. A full life, gone in an instant. I got used to that there. It was one of the most important lessons of my life on the cusp on my own autumn years. Life is short at best. Live it...

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