Thursday, August 11

Slept late this morning, until around 8 a.m., and then did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast.

Hubbie left around 9:30 to go to a Master Gardener meeting, and once I was ready for the day, I did this and that until lunchtime. Mother stayed home for the morning, but came over around 1 p.m.

Just before 2 p.m., we went down to the nursing home for a card-making session. The Caring Hands Hospice coordinator arrived at about the same time and helped me get Mother's wheelchair, and our crafting supplies out of the van.

Our session was held in the nursing home dining room...way at the other end of the building...so I'm glad we had the wheelchair for Mother. She wouldn't have been able to hike to and from that room without getting exhausted.

The activities director led us to the dining room, and then promptly disappeared, leaving the three of us to handle the session. About fifteen residents attended, several in wheelchairs. It's a good thing I'd prepared card-making kits for these folks, because they are very limited in their abilities. Only a few were able to make the simple cards on their own, and of those, a few glued the designs inside the cards instead of outside. The Caring Hands coordinator and I worked with others who were completely incapable of grasping the idea of card-making, and with these folks, we had to just make the cards ourselves, while they watched.

If the Caring Hands coordinator was serious about re-stocking her card supply, this was not the ideal way to go about it, because a bunch of the cards made today are virtually unusable.

I asked how it came about that we scheduled a session at the nursing home, and the coordinator said the activities director called and asked us to do it. I guess the only job of the activities director is to recruit others to conduct sessions.

We spoke with a staff member, who assured us that if we conducted any other activities there, that the activities director or another staff member would be on hand to deal with any difficult situations. That's because today, a resident began chocking on water. We were told she wasn't supposed to be given water, but we didn't know that. It's not up to us to deny resident requests.

The staff member asked if we could conduct another session, and to deflect her from asking for card-making again, I suggested doing graham cracker cookie Christmas houses. I would be willing to help with that, if the staff member and the coordinator can get the supplies together. I also suggested that we needed more volunteers to work individually with the residents. The coordinator suggested we enlist a group of high school students. I also emphasized that I could not do it in December, so we are looking at doing it in early November.

We were back from the session about 3:30. Mother went to her house, and I relaxed for a while. I find that particular nursing home to be a very depressing place. It's more like a hospital than a home, with double residency rooms, and folks dozing in wheelchairs along the corridors. A couple of the female residents who attended the session sat at the table clutching stuffed animals.

I remember several years ago, while I was still working, I had occasion to visit the nursing home. I was saddened by the sight of an elderly woman in an adult high chair, who was crooning to a baby doll she clutched.

It's a real downer to visit that nursing home, which contrasts 380 degrees with the independent living center where we've held sessions in the past. The independent living center is a bright, well-appointed place that is very inviting, where the residents are happy and so much more capable of handling crafting projects.

I assured Mother that under no circumstance would we ever put her in a place like that awful nursing home. And I hope I'm never faced with the prospect of going to one like it, either.

It happened that Mother knew one of the residents, who attended a dieter's club with her years ago. The resident, who is somewhat mentally challenged, used to go to meetings of the club with her mother, with whom she lived. The mother is still living, so we don't know under what circumstances the daughter is now in this nursing home.

For supper tonight, I intended to fix turkey bacon/tomato/Vidalia onion/lettuce sandwiches, with bowls of bean soup, but we don't have any turkey bacon. So instead of bacon, we had the sandwiches with Havarti cheese.

Later, we watched the 2002 movie, "Gangs of New York," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Dey-Lewis, Liam Neeson, and others. In 1863, a boy now grown to manhood, seeks revenge against his father's killer. This is a film inspired by history. We first saw it at our local movie theater.