A few Memorable Moments

I thought I would start out by reminiscing a bit about the last 2 months. There have been quite a few funny moments, and I wouldn't want them to go to waste.

One of the first residents I met was Maggie. She is a sweet lady who gets confused often and loves to sit on the couch right by the office, the cushion on the left. I have had a couple of experiences with her that left me chuckling to myself.

One night about 1:30 am we got a page from the front office. I went down to check it out, and there was Maggie, in nothing but a t-shirt. Luckily the shirt was just long enough to cover everything that would have scarred me for life. "Where am I?" she asked. I responded that she was home and asked her if she wanted me to take her to her room. She was worried about having on only a shirt, so I assured her the coast was clear. As we were nearing the top of the stairs she voiced her concern again. I once again assured her that no one was behind us. She merely responded with "Oh well, there's not much there anyway." It was classic.

Another evening, I was walking through the house and came around a corner, and there was Maggie. "This is Maggie. Where am I?" "You are home. Want to go to your room?" I asked. "Yes, but I don't know where it is." I showed her to her room, and went in to turn on the light. On my way back out she cheerfully asked "Want to spend the night with me?" I laughed out loud and responded "Maggie, your just not my type. Besides, I don't think my wife would approve..." My first invitation to stay with a resident.

The other night about 1:30 AM, we got a page from Ilene. She is a 93 yr old from Switzerland. She normally doesn't have any problems so we were surprised she paged us. I went to her room to see what was up, but she wasn't there. I was starting to get worried. I started looking over the whole house and as I approached the office, I heard voices. It was Ilene, Leah, and Jennelle. "What's up?" I asked.

Ilene started into how Jennelle had come into her room (we couldn't get Jenelle to go to bed that night because she insisted that some "friends" of hers were coming to visit- she just wanted to wait for them in her wheelchair...) and was bothering her, so Ilene had brought her to the office. Just then Jenelle piped in "What is she saying? No I didn't. She's lying." Knowing that Jenelle was a little out of her mind already, I decided to believe Ilene. Then I looked at Leah and asked her what she was doing. "I thought I missed breakfast" was her reply. I explained that breakfast wasn't for another 6 hours and asked if she wanted to go back to bed. "Yes, but I don't know where my room is." After taking her to her room, I returned for Ilene. As we were arriving to her room she looks at me, points to her head and says in her German accent "I'm 93 and still have my noodle." It was great.

I then returned downstairs for Jenelle. She was still insistent that she wait up for her "friends" that were coming to visit her. I'm sure she had lots of "friends" come visit her that night... I decided to just start pushing her wheelchair to the elevator and force her to go to bed, but after trying unsuccessfully to stop me with her feet, she looked up at me with a pissed off look on her face and said "Now don't start getting pushy with me young man." I was tired, wanted to sleep, and had had enough. I told her to enjoy the visit with her friends and went back to bed. Twice the next day they found her blocks away from the house still looking for her "friends."

Another day, Janelle went up to one of my co-workers and said "I just got clearance from the tower for take off, I'm ready to go." She was using her wheelchair brake as the throttle and making vroom noises. She then looked up with a puzzled look on her face and confusedly said "but I can't find my passengers." Heaven have mercy on those who are unfortunate enough to be her passengers. I guess she still searching for her "friends."

One day at lunch, Janelle decided to go rogue. As other residents started to leave the cafeteria, she decided to block them in with her wheelchair. As they would start to go around her with their walkers, she would angle to cut them off again. She was determined to keep everyone in. It was hilarious.

Valerie was one of the three residents that have passed on since we moved in. Two nights before she died, I got a page from her at 2 AM. As I opened her door she said almost in tears "I can't find my cat." Seriously?! You woke me up because you can't find your cat?! I might have been more understanding if my love of cats was not the same as for a pigeon. I "diligently" searched her room. I heard the meowing and told her that it was in the room and that if she didn't find it by morning we would search the whole house. I just wanted to go back to sleep. They found the cat the next morning under her chair. She knew the next night was her last so she called all her family in and said her goodbyes and requested one thing- a screwdriver (the vodka and OJ drink). At least she got to go out happy.

There are more, but this is a good start. I'll add more as I get more time. Thanks for reading!