Caring with dignity and empathy

‘Very good! Now lift the other leg to take a step forward. Wonderful! See how much progress you have made!’ This was not me talking to a small baby but the physiotherapist encouraging my 83-year-old mother, and coaxing her to take one more step. The same woman who once efficiently ran a crowded household, providing for her husband, growing children and demanding brothers-in-law, was having trouble walking without support. As I watched him slowly egging her on to move forward, I wondered if he would believe me if I told him how active my mother had been.