Unfortunately, when it comes to caring for the elderly, this is not Europe, and younger folks here do not have the European mentality. Now, I have not visited western Europe for more than 50 years, but I can clearly recall when I was in Italy, elderly family members often moved in with one of the oldest children when they became ill and unable to care for themselves. More often than not, mom and dad moved into a spare bedroom, someone was there to look after them 24 hours a day and take them to doctors visits when necessary.

In the US, where pretty much everything became disposable during the mid 1970s, and mom and dad were added to the list. The kids had no time to take care of their ailing parents, and if mom and dad had stashed away enough retire money, the kids would dump them into either a retirement community of assisted living facility. When the money ran out, medicaid would kick in and the facilities would still get paid, though not quite as much.

Many of these places are staffed by low IQ individuals that are paid about $12 to $15 an hour. Some cannot speak English, most do not want to deal with sanitation issues, and in many places, there is no professional medical staff on site more than once or twice a week.

Fortunately, much of that has changed in my part of the world. The staff mainly consists of caring individuals who bend over backwards to take care of the patients to the best of their ability and often go the extra mile to make life some enjoyable for residents who rarely have visitations from family members.

I made a damned good living as an entertainer working the senior circuit, enough to take care of my family and keep a roof over our heads. I worked very hard to achieve the goals I set forth during each performance, and I knew many of the residents on a first name basis. When many of them passed away, I attended their funeral.

Now, I have seen some of the Hell Holes that Russ often talks about, but they should not be shut down. Instead, the upper echelon staff should be criminally prosecuted and a better class of caring individuals should be replacing them.

Good luck,

Gary