It is undeniably true that nowadays many elderly people are no longer looked after by their families, instead of they are put in care homes or nursing homes. In most cases, the main reason why families decide to do this is for the sake of convenience.

According to Collins dictionary, a care home is a large house or institution where people with particular problems or special needs are looked after; in this place, elderly people are monitored and helped 24 hours a day. What people often ignore is the fact that sometimes and in some nursing homes the elderly do not always feel happy. If their families do not visit them very often, they can feel alone, sad and abandoned. In that place, you perceive time differently from the everyday sense of time. I would like to remember what Pope Francis said three years ago, about an event that happened when he was a bishop in Argentina, he asked an old woman in a care home: “When was the last time your relatives came? She said, ‘Well, at Christmas.’ It was August. Eight months without a visit from her children. Eight months of being abandoned. This is called a mortal sin. Understand?”.

Of course, the elderly can make new friendships in a nursing home; they are not alone. These homes often organize group activities, board games, card games, senior excursions and so on.

On the other hand, a further disadvantage could be the cost, in fact, care homes usually are not cheap; in many cases, families set aside a lot of money each month to afford it.

During high school, I did a volunteering experience for three years. My classmates and I used to visit a care home called “Papa Giovanni XXIII”. I knew a lot of old people; they usually talked to me about their families, the weather, the food in the canteen, their memories of the past and so on. I remember very well one of them, her name was Rosa, she was 92 and one day, during a normal conversation, she stopped talking and then she told me, in a very awkward way, just two words “Forgive me”. Then she kept repeating it several times and I did not know what to do, at least, after asking for explanations, I simply said: “I forgive you”.

In conclusion, if you think you are saving your time, working or enjoying your life, abandoning your parents or grandparents in a care home, you should think whether it is the best thing you can do and the best time you can (not) spend with them because time is not coming back.

https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/francis-chronicles/pope-francis-ignoring-abandoning-elderly-sin