A Belated Little Election Day Story

The people at Shiny Meadows were allowed to vote if they were able to take a pen and draw an "X". Dad was barely able to do this. For the second line that crossed the other, Mom helped hold his hand steady. He was then allowed to cast his ballot, with Mom filling it out for him. It's a little scary to think about those lost in dementia being "guided" by someone helping them vote. But Dad's vote was safe in my mother's care. After 69 years together, the political tastes are dovetailed.

As Mom was pushing him down the hallway in his wheelchair, another wheelchair-bound resident, Eileen, was being given her ballot by a nurse.

"Are you ready to vote, Eileen?" she asked.

"I guess I am. But I don't know shit from apple butter."