I'm fresh from the most fascinating experience. An older family member of mine is now living in an assisted-living facility - perhaps not permanently - but hopefully long enough for her to realize she is safe and secure there, rather than alone at home, prone to falling at all times of the day or night. Trying to convince her that she is living in a better place is a topic for another posting. Let me just say, "It's complicated."
Her new "home" is a beautiful building that once housed a family of seven back in the sixties and seventies. After the original family who built the home moved out, another family bought it but brought with them legal and familial problems that overshadowed the prominent architectural position the home had once held in the small, rural farming community. One more family would purchase the property before the present owners and it was then that it was remodeled into an adult assisted-living facility. Aside from the unfathomably bad decision to paint over ALL the interior mahogany woodwork and cabinets with paint, and an ugly light green to boot, the other transformations were germane to the business of caring for adults who need light supervision but can otherwise live independently.
The present owners are delightful and seem to genuinely enjoy the roles they are now playing - that of host and hostess, care givers, cooks and dishwashers. They will take the time to visit with all......residents and visitors alike. The food is very, very good, the place is as clean as a whistle and - here is the most important part - they are dog owners and the dogs and the residents get to mingle on a regular basis.
Most of the residents are in their mid-to-late nineties - all females and one quiet gentleman who is in his mid-80's, plus my relative who is in her mid-seventies. The majority of the female residents may be elderly but their minds are as quick as ever. They taught me how to play a game of dice called "Blow It" and can those ladies ever shake and roll dice! The scoring of the game was a bit confounding at first but the women patiently kept explaining the scoring to me and finally, I was able to play each round without feeling as if I was a grade-schooler ciphering decades ago.
Thank you Sandy, Fern, Merriam, and Ada! I had the most fun I've had in a long time!
Ancora imparo
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