Robservations for August 29, 2019

What is friendship? What can a person expect from their friends and what should a person give to their friends? That is a huge question in my life these days.
Three years ago I felt I had a lot of very close friends in this valley. Everywhere I went I saw people I knew and loved to be around. I felt this was the place I was meant to be.
Two years ago, when my kidneys failed, things were pretty bleak. If I wanted to live I needed dialysis and that was only availa-ble in Trail or Cranbrook. Every doctor, nurse, family member and social worker suggested I move to a larger centre.
And I fought that concept with tooth and nail. Anything to get back to the Columbia Valley where all my friends and my great life were.
So I have eventually been set up with a home hemodialysis unit which allows me to stay in Invermere and carry on with my amazing life.
But as it turns out, that is no longer my life. I am pretty much trapped in my home ei-ther doing dialysis or waiting to do dialysis.
And my friends have really stepped back. The world is too busy to bother with me. It turns out that most of my friendships were based on me getting out and about. It seems visiting me on dialysis is a creepy concept. I can be a bit depressing.
I have had some unexpected support from some new friends and my Church family and really appreciate it but overall it is a lonely, lonely world for me.
I can’t imagine the loneliness of many sen-iors in our community. Get out there and do some visiting folks.