By Steve Moran

I was recently reading a book by Christian author Philip Yancy, and he was telling the story of a pastor who has dedicated his life to serving desperately poor and broken people in Chicago, “a world of no-bodies ….” It got me to thinking, that is exactly what we in senior living do.

I Used to Be Somebody …

Once in a while we hear stories about residents who did amazing things that changed the world. They wrote books, they discovered cures, they invented things, and then they got old. And now they living in a community where these things matter little.

They are just one more old person with a story and a checkbook. And if we are honest, the ones who are most successful, most prominent, are often the biggest pains in the ass. They are used to being treated with deference — as being somebody — in a world of nobodies.

And Yet …

Every single person in our communities was somebody, even the ones who were never famous, prominent, or anything. They never wrote a book, invented something, found some cure. They simply lived, worked hard, made a living, got married, got divorced, had kids, didn’t have kids, didn’t get married. These people are the backbone of our society; every single one of them was somebody.

Only Us …

What a privilege we have to be THE ONES who remember and remind them that they are not nobodies but in fact are somebodies — people who still are making a difference, who have the capacity to have fun, who have enduring stories.

We must never forget that the nobodies we are serving are amazing somebodies.