Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Life in the Slow Lane
I spend a few hours or so every day at the Klondike Manor Nursing Home, which is officially not called a nursing home, it is a Rehabilitation and Nursing Care Facility. There are about sixty-two "residents". Doc is one of the "residents". It is a varied group of people and since I'm there for a portion of each day, I have gotten to become familiar with a number of them.
The facility itself is very neat, clean, and attractively decorated. Jane went with me to check it out before we settled on the place to move Doc to after his second stroke. His right side was paralyzed and he could get physical therapy there. Jane and I both were impressed by the fact that the place had a very nice odor. Most "homes " that we had been to had the unpleasant odor of,well,nursing homes!
It took Doc awhile to settle into the place. He's used to being in charge and having his demands met 'STAT'. It didn't happen that way and he was not too pleased and was inclined to let them know in no uncertain terms. While his speech was affected by the stroke as to the spoken word but not the volume, he did a lot of yelling. I've been told a number of times that they are used to obstreperous people there and he did not get any votes for being the worst, matter of fact he wasn't even in the running.He adapted to them and they adapted to him.
He is not a very social person so he did not even attempt to make friends. He won't eat in the dining room because they play music, 40's music, and he says he can't hear people talk with the music playing. He does enjoy going out into the patio/garden. It is beautiful. Lots of flowers, trees, bushes and birds. They have a fish pond with water lillies and huge gold fish. There are bird feeders hanging in the trees and bird nests in every available place that the birds choose to set up house keeping. There is a robin's nest on the drain pipe outside his window, a dove's nest on the drain pipe near the entrance of the building,more robins, wrens and others around the garden area. The mallards have a nest there near the fishpond and the squirrels and chipmonks abound. One day a deer came into the grassy area right outside his window. He is very contented to watch the activity of the wild life and enjoys the flora and fauna.
I have struck up a friendship with many of the residents. There is a man there that has a nervous laugh. He is very friendly and kind. He is about 88yrs old and he also served in WW 2 just as Doc did. He reminisces about his days as a dancer. He was a dance instructor and danced at Fountain Ferry Park in the old days. He married one of his dance partners but it didn't work out and he married another girl. They had triplets. Two identical girls and a boy. When I asked why he was there at Klondike he said, "Because my wife put me here!" Ha,ha,ha. He told Doc she put him there because he hit her and knocked her down. Ha,ha,ha.Actually he is a very kind good hearted man. He frequently says, I love you and always says God Bless you when you leave. Ha ha!
Arlene is a very ill patient. she suffers great pain most of the time but she can forget it for awhile if she can wheel herself into the patio and talk with us for a few moments. She spent her life working for the govertnment, the IRS, to be exact. She has a condo that she was living in but has had to put it up for sale in order to pay her fees at Klondike. Her daughter just graduated from Spaulding with another degree, summa cum laude and has emmediately registered for further studies. She is about 35 years old and up to this point her mom has financed her. Arlene said she hated to tell her that she was on her own now because she needs her money to pay her bills. Her drug bills alone cost $1500.oo a month. She says it costs her about $5000. a month to reside at KM.She is taken by ambulance every Mon. Wed. and Fri to Suburban for Kidney Dialysis. When I stop at McDonalds or Wendy's for a milk shake for Doc now and then, I always bring her one too. Her 98 year old mother comes to visit despite the fact that Arlene begs her not to come because she drives herself!
Ruth was brought here from Cleveland by her son because he wanted her near his home. She is not used to this heat and humidity but she likes it. She is very sharp and can converse about a variety of subjects. Even though it is ninety degrees, she still brings her sweater with her when she comes to the patio. She is baffled by the fact that she is still alive. She questions the reasoning of God that He lets her keep on living. She says she has no purpose in life and sees herself as a semi-burdon for her son. She had emergency surgery in April and had to have a colostomy. She can't figure out why. She's 93 years old. Waiting for God!
I am quite surprised to know how many people are here that we know. One of the people lived down the street from us for the last 40 years or so. She was a well known figure in the neighborhood because of her profession. Her husband owned a girly bar down on Third St. and in her hey day she was a stripper. The aides have viewed her scrap book and heard some of her expertiences. She rolls into Doc's room occasionally and he yells at her to 'Get Out!' She is always looking for ways to get out of the 'home' and asks people to help her escape. She seems lonely to me but is not too aware of her plight.
I love most of the aids and nurses on the staff. They are or can be quite funny. They are loud and raucus at times but their job is very difficult. They have to take a lot of guff and deal with a lot of complaints. They have to take their lunch breaks and cigaret breaks out in the patio and their conversations are sometimes a riot. They argue over who has the least stretch marks, who has the laziest husband, who is the best cook, unlimited subjects to discuss. I would love to record some of them because they are so funny. They are quite taken with my shoes and check each day to see which ones I am wearing. I explained to them that I have to make up for the lack of shoes I had growing up during the depression when I had to cut out news paper liners for my shoes to cover the holes in the soles. I avoided walking on the cement that way. They were amused! It's true, ladies! They are the unsung heros of the decrepid members of society! More later.(ha,ha,ha)
The facility itself is very neat, clean, and attractively decorated. Jane went with me to check it out before we settled on the place to move Doc to after his second stroke. His right side was paralyzed and he could get physical therapy there. Jane and I both were impressed by the fact that the place had a very nice odor. Most "homes " that we had been to had the unpleasant odor of,well,nursing homes!
It took Doc awhile to settle into the place. He's used to being in charge and having his demands met 'STAT'. It didn't happen that way and he was not too pleased and was inclined to let them know in no uncertain terms. While his speech was affected by the stroke as to the spoken word but not the volume, he did a lot of yelling. I've been told a number of times that they are used to obstreperous people there and he did not get any votes for being the worst, matter of fact he wasn't even in the running.He adapted to them and they adapted to him.
He is not a very social person so he did not even attempt to make friends. He won't eat in the dining room because they play music, 40's music, and he says he can't hear people talk with the music playing. He does enjoy going out into the patio/garden. It is beautiful. Lots of flowers, trees, bushes and birds. They have a fish pond with water lillies and huge gold fish. There are bird feeders hanging in the trees and bird nests in every available place that the birds choose to set up house keeping. There is a robin's nest on the drain pipe outside his window, a dove's nest on the drain pipe near the entrance of the building,more robins, wrens and others around the garden area. The mallards have a nest there near the fishpond and the squirrels and chipmonks abound. One day a deer came into the grassy area right outside his window. He is very contented to watch the activity of the wild life and enjoys the flora and fauna.
I have struck up a friendship with many of the residents. There is a man there that has a nervous laugh. He is very friendly and kind. He is about 88yrs old and he also served in WW 2 just as Doc did. He reminisces about his days as a dancer. He was a dance instructor and danced at Fountain Ferry Park in the old days. He married one of his dance partners but it didn't work out and he married another girl. They had triplets. Two identical girls and a boy. When I asked why he was there at Klondike he said, "Because my wife put me here!" Ha,ha,ha. He told Doc she put him there because he hit her and knocked her down. Ha,ha,ha.Actually he is a very kind good hearted man. He frequently says, I love you and always says God Bless you when you leave. Ha ha!
Arlene is a very ill patient. she suffers great pain most of the time but she can forget it for awhile if she can wheel herself into the patio and talk with us for a few moments. She spent her life working for the govertnment, the IRS, to be exact. She has a condo that she was living in but has had to put it up for sale in order to pay her fees at Klondike. Her daughter just graduated from Spaulding with another degree, summa cum laude and has emmediately registered for further studies. She is about 35 years old and up to this point her mom has financed her. Arlene said she hated to tell her that she was on her own now because she needs her money to pay her bills. Her drug bills alone cost $1500.oo a month. She says it costs her about $5000. a month to reside at KM.She is taken by ambulance every Mon. Wed. and Fri to Suburban for Kidney Dialysis. When I stop at McDonalds or Wendy's for a milk shake for Doc now and then, I always bring her one too. Her 98 year old mother comes to visit despite the fact that Arlene begs her not to come because she drives herself!
Ruth was brought here from Cleveland by her son because he wanted her near his home. She is not used to this heat and humidity but she likes it. She is very sharp and can converse about a variety of subjects. Even though it is ninety degrees, she still brings her sweater with her when she comes to the patio. She is baffled by the fact that she is still alive. She questions the reasoning of God that He lets her keep on living. She says she has no purpose in life and sees herself as a semi-burdon for her son. She had emergency surgery in April and had to have a colostomy. She can't figure out why. She's 93 years old. Waiting for God!
I am quite surprised to know how many people are here that we know. One of the people lived down the street from us for the last 40 years or so. She was a well known figure in the neighborhood because of her profession. Her husband owned a girly bar down on Third St. and in her hey day she was a stripper. The aides have viewed her scrap book and heard some of her expertiences. She rolls into Doc's room occasionally and he yells at her to 'Get Out!' She is always looking for ways to get out of the 'home' and asks people to help her escape. She seems lonely to me but is not too aware of her plight.
I love most of the aids and nurses on the staff. They are or can be quite funny. They are loud and raucus at times but their job is very difficult. They have to take a lot of guff and deal with a lot of complaints. They have to take their lunch breaks and cigaret breaks out in the patio and their conversations are sometimes a riot. They argue over who has the least stretch marks, who has the laziest husband, who is the best cook, unlimited subjects to discuss. I would love to record some of them because they are so funny. They are quite taken with my shoes and check each day to see which ones I am wearing. I explained to them that I have to make up for the lack of shoes I had growing up during the depression when I had to cut out news paper liners for my shoes to cover the holes in the soles. I avoided walking on the cement that way. They were amused! It's true, ladies! They are the unsung heros of the decrepid members of society! More later.(ha,ha,ha)
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Miracles do happen
I went to the hospital to see Jane today and what a happy day! Andrea was there doing her nails, giving her a pedicure and washing her hair. She, for the first time smiled, even laughed once, and mouthed the words "No and Yes" and before I left I told her goodbye and said something to her and she responded by mouthing the words, "I will".
Tomorrow they may move her to an acute rehab place at Jewish Hospital. She will be getting speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. You should see her, she looks great! Keep the prayers going!
Tomorrow they may move her to an acute rehab place at Jewish Hospital. She will be getting speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. You should see her, she looks great! Keep the prayers going!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Socializing
I haven't been going to the grocery as often lately and I've missed out on a lot of my socializing. The trip to Krogers quite often is the highlight of my social life. Almost always I have encounters with friends, neighbors, parents of children I've taught and various other people that I know. Occasionally, I interact with people I don't know.
You'd be surprised at how many words of wisdom, words of derision,words of sympathy and words of advise are dealt out in the produce aisle, prescription counter, and other areas of the food mecca.
Profound statements and useless information, medical advise, marital advise, parenting advice are all handed out with sublime equanimity.
I have frequent encounters with Rita who enjoys passing on all of the bad news that she has heard lately about mutual friends and neighbors. "Mary, you remember her,broke her leg a few days before her wedding and had to go down the aisle in a wheel chair. One of her neighbor, Jim, backed his car out of the garage and ran over his wife's walker. Fortunately, she wasn't using it at the time; however she 's not getting around too well lately.
Joe keeps me updated on his PSA test results and his golf scores. He gets pretty fired up about the latest goings on in Washington and bemoans the fact that there are so many ill informed people in this country that vote these "baboons" into office.
Danny, that I taught for a few years is now grown up, married and has two boys. Do I think they should be tested for learning differences? I advised him to give it serious thought. They surely are cute boys.
Inga keeps me up to date on what her tall dark handsome son is doing and how many jobs he has had. She is thinking of taking the test to see if she can become a citizen of the U.S. She has lived here for thirty or forty years and has never been able to vote!
Kitty moved here from the North and has had a hard time adjusting to the accents of some of her new friends. She called to congratulate Sue on the birth of her new baby and when told that the baby is "blond" she made a fuss about that and remarked about how cute blond babies are. She teared up when she told me that she had misunderstood. Actually the baby is blind.
Dorothy is ninety and she is shopping for potatoes because she is bringing potato salad to a party she is attending. "Can you believe the price of potatoes?" Anyway, the party giver is even older than Dorothy and when Dorothy called her to check and see if anyone else was bringing potato salad her friend said, "Am I having a party tonight?" Dorothy called the daughter of the friend and confirmed that the party was in fact going to happen, her friend just forgot that she had sent out
invitations.
Jack has a terrible time with his wife. She is unable to do anything around the house. She can't cook any more, nor do house work and he has to do everything! The only respite he gets is going to the grocery and to church on Sunday. He would like to visit Doc but he would not be able to leave her unattended for that long. They had no children, he had one brother but he died and her only sister died so they are completely and totally alone. I can remember when we were all younger and they were free to go where they wanted, Bahamas, California, etc. etc. and had plenty of money to do all those things. They had no tuition bills, pediatrician bills, large grocery bills,they seemed so foot loose and fancy free. Now, they have no sons or daughters that care for them, no grandkids or great grandkids, no neices or nephews or anyone that really cares for them. What a lonesome life. I always walk away from him thanking God for our blessings.
Advise is asked for and given on things like how do you know if a chicken is fresh, do you think this melon is ripe enough, what's that stuff called, (rhubarb) what do you do with it? How do you cook asperagus? Is this cabbage or lettuce? What is mush? How do you cook it? Is it good? Why did you open all the egg cartons before you chose one? Teachable moments happen on a regular basis.
Happy shopping most of the time except for Senior Citizen Day! That's a whole new ballgame!
You'd be surprised at how many words of wisdom, words of derision,words of sympathy and words of advise are dealt out in the produce aisle, prescription counter, and other areas of the food mecca.
Profound statements and useless information, medical advise, marital advise, parenting advice are all handed out with sublime equanimity.
I have frequent encounters with Rita who enjoys passing on all of the bad news that she has heard lately about mutual friends and neighbors. "Mary, you remember her,broke her leg a few days before her wedding and had to go down the aisle in a wheel chair. One of her neighbor, Jim, backed his car out of the garage and ran over his wife's walker. Fortunately, she wasn't using it at the time; however she 's not getting around too well lately.
Joe keeps me updated on his PSA test results and his golf scores. He gets pretty fired up about the latest goings on in Washington and bemoans the fact that there are so many ill informed people in this country that vote these "baboons" into office.
Danny, that I taught for a few years is now grown up, married and has two boys. Do I think they should be tested for learning differences? I advised him to give it serious thought. They surely are cute boys.
Inga keeps me up to date on what her tall dark handsome son is doing and how many jobs he has had. She is thinking of taking the test to see if she can become a citizen of the U.S. She has lived here for thirty or forty years and has never been able to vote!
Kitty moved here from the North and has had a hard time adjusting to the accents of some of her new friends. She called to congratulate Sue on the birth of her new baby and when told that the baby is "blond" she made a fuss about that and remarked about how cute blond babies are. She teared up when she told me that she had misunderstood. Actually the baby is blind.
Dorothy is ninety and she is shopping for potatoes because she is bringing potato salad to a party she is attending. "Can you believe the price of potatoes?" Anyway, the party giver is even older than Dorothy and when Dorothy called her to check and see if anyone else was bringing potato salad her friend said, "Am I having a party tonight?" Dorothy called the daughter of the friend and confirmed that the party was in fact going to happen, her friend just forgot that she had sent out
invitations.
Jack has a terrible time with his wife. She is unable to do anything around the house. She can't cook any more, nor do house work and he has to do everything! The only respite he gets is going to the grocery and to church on Sunday. He would like to visit Doc but he would not be able to leave her unattended for that long. They had no children, he had one brother but he died and her only sister died so they are completely and totally alone. I can remember when we were all younger and they were free to go where they wanted, Bahamas, California, etc. etc. and had plenty of money to do all those things. They had no tuition bills, pediatrician bills, large grocery bills,they seemed so foot loose and fancy free. Now, they have no sons or daughters that care for them, no grandkids or great grandkids, no neices or nephews or anyone that really cares for them. What a lonesome life. I always walk away from him thanking God for our blessings.
Advise is asked for and given on things like how do you know if a chicken is fresh, do you think this melon is ripe enough, what's that stuff called, (rhubarb) what do you do with it? How do you cook asperagus? Is this cabbage or lettuce? What is mush? How do you cook it? Is it good? Why did you open all the egg cartons before you chose one? Teachable moments happen on a regular basis.
Happy shopping most of the time except for Senior Citizen Day! That's a whole new ballgame!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Pokemon is alive and well.
Gregg and I went to Florida last week. Seamless trip down and back. non-stop flights are definitely the way to travel. The twins are super role players. I don't think we ever see the "real" twins. They take on the persona of whatever their latest interest is and go from there. In their short life time they have been squirrels, dogs,cardinals,cats,mice etc.etc. At the preset time they are Pokemons. They have videos, pokemon cards, stuffed Pokemons and access to the computer game of Pokemon. They map out strategies, they speak of evolving, they have all of the names down pat and Bridget can draw most of the figures. Whew!
We went to Myakka for the express purpose of taking an air boat trip through the lake to see all of the aligators. I've done that before and thought it was a facinating thing to do but they are having a serious drought in
FL and the water was too low to sail the air boats. There are usually canoe trips available also. I'm too chicken to sail in the alligator infested waters to go on a canoe trip but Angela and Keith have done it and I'm sure Gregg would have done it but once again the water level was too low. We did climb a beautiful, well made tower to see the "jungle" from above and that was a neat thing to do but neverthe less I was dissapointed that we did not get to get up close and personal with the alligators.
We went to Lido Beach after dinner and while I sat on the beach, Keith,Angela, twins and Gregg swam. It was a perfect evening. The water was warm, the air cool and the sunset was beautiful. The moonlight was pretty bright and very visible before the sun had fully set.
Keith was quite busy while we were there. He is enjoying his job as legislator and is appropriately involved in the business of legislating.
Back home, Doc is doing well at Klondike and Jane is making incremental gains every day. Sign off time. Ciao
We went to Myakka for the express purpose of taking an air boat trip through the lake to see all of the aligators. I've done that before and thought it was a facinating thing to do but they are having a serious drought in
FL and the water was too low to sail the air boats. There are usually canoe trips available also. I'm too chicken to sail in the alligator infested waters to go on a canoe trip but Angela and Keith have done it and I'm sure Gregg would have done it but once again the water level was too low. We did climb a beautiful, well made tower to see the "jungle" from above and that was a neat thing to do but neverthe less I was dissapointed that we did not get to get up close and personal with the alligators.
We went to Lido Beach after dinner and while I sat on the beach, Keith,Angela, twins and Gregg swam. It was a perfect evening. The water was warm, the air cool and the sunset was beautiful. The moonlight was pretty bright and very visible before the sun had fully set.
Keith was quite busy while we were there. He is enjoying his job as legislator and is appropriately involved in the business of legislating.
Back home, Doc is doing well at Klondike and Jane is making incremental gains every day. Sign off time. Ciao
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Shoot-out at the Stony Brook Kroger
Even though it is still early in June, we are already in those hazy, lazy days of summer.It's when the livin' is easy, kick back and relax with an iced tea or cold drink of choice. Listen to the katy-dids and buzzing bees and find a place in the shade to doze off and let the rest of the world roll by. Or,go up to Krogers and roll up to a four way stop and pull out your gun and blaze away at the Hummer dude that had shown his gun to you when the two of you disagreed on whose turn it was to go first. Have we seriously regressed or what? Whatever happened to civility? The news reported that the two men exchanged words before firing and waving a gun about. How do you suppose that went? "You first." "No,no, you first." "No, that's OK, I am not in any hurry." Hummer dude pulls gun and is about to say, "I insist." His words were drowned out by the hail of bullets piercing his door and his arm and his head. I always thought of Hummers as being as impenetrable as a Brink's truck! Not so! Of
course, I may have it all wrong, it may just be an unfortunate misunderstanding. Maybe it was Hummerdude's birthday and he just got his fully legal 40 caliber,simi-automatic gun for his birthday and he was just showing it to the ex-cop with no ill intent. Ex-cop wants to show him that he too has a fully legal 40 caliber simi-automatic gun, forgetting that he has a hair trigger and so he got shooting and didn't quit till he had shot up the Hummer, the Hummerdude and the National City Bank. He also shot the lazy day of summer all to heck and back. I'm trying to be understanding about this incident but...
course, I may have it all wrong, it may just be an unfortunate misunderstanding. Maybe it was Hummerdude's birthday and he just got his fully legal 40 caliber,simi-automatic gun for his birthday and he was just showing it to the ex-cop with no ill intent. Ex-cop wants to show him that he too has a fully legal 40 caliber simi-automatic gun, forgetting that he has a hair trigger and so he got shooting and didn't quit till he had shot up the Hummer, the Hummerdude and the National City Bank. He also shot the lazy day of summer all to heck and back. I'm trying to be understanding about this incident but...
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
There's a Song in My Head
In a conversation that I was having the other day I was reminded of an incident that took place in Greece a few years back when Linda and I traveled there. I decided
to share some of those experiences once in awhile.
We were in Athens one evening and were walking around visiting the various shops in the Platka and a street vendor came along pushing a huge wooden cart filled with dark red Bing cherries. Those cherries looked so delicious and were not at all expensive. The vendor was a very old Greek man with a slouch hat and baggy pants, as he put the scoops of cherries in a bag for me, one cherry fell to the street. Using the five second rule, I reached down and scooped it up, rubbed it on my skirt and popped it into my mouth. One of the people with our group was horrified.She rushed over and put her arm around my shoulder and chastised me for eating a cherry off the dirty Athens street. The temperature that day had been 105 degrees and I didn't think germs could survive the heat. We all bought cherries and then decided to go up to our room and eat them. One of the women had asked me to teach her some of the songs that I used to sing to my children when they were little. She has two young children and wanted suggestions. I agreed to teach her but had not yet found the time or place to begin.
to share some of those experiences once in awhile.
We were in Athens one evening and were walking around visiting the various shops in the Platka and a street vendor came along pushing a huge wooden cart filled with dark red Bing cherries. Those cherries looked so delicious and were not at all expensive. The vendor was a very old Greek man with a slouch hat and baggy pants, as he put the scoops of cherries in a bag for me, one cherry fell to the street. Using the five second rule, I reached down and scooped it up, rubbed it on my skirt and popped it into my mouth. One of the people with our group was horrified.She rushed over and put her arm around my shoulder and chastised me for eating a cherry off the dirty Athens street. The temperature that day had been 105 degrees and I didn't think germs could survive the heat. We all bought cherries and then decided to go up to our room and eat them. One of the women had asked me to teach her some of the songs that I used to sing to my children when they were little. She has two young children and wanted suggestions. I agreed to teach her but had not yet found the time or place to begin.
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