Back when I was younger and working and living in Queens, I would often hear about someone's going into rehab. Back then, rehab meant that you had a substance abuse problem and had to deal with it.
When I moved into this senior community, I was constantly hearing about someone going into rehab. It made me wonder what kind of community I had gotten into. Gradually, it began to dawn on me that rehab, to a senior, meant something totally different. Rehab is just an exercise program for after surgery to replace a knee, hip, etc.
That brings me to the next word that needed correction in my mind. Again, when I was young, if someone was going for therapy, they needed some help sorting out problems.
In my senior community, therapy is something completely different. Therapy is a physical thing, something that follows rehab. In therapy, you work on your new knee or hip, or slipped disc, or even a chronic ache or pain that keeps you from enjoying your life.
Here, it seems as everyone is now in therapy, has been in therapy, or is planning on therapy. I'm no exception. I've been in therapy twice, once for my back and now for my shoulder. It works, and as far as I know, my mind is fine and I don't need therapy for that.
I find it interesting that one word can mean two completely different things depending on your age and contacts.
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