Life, the universe, and lunch

Merry christmas pretty girl

So Wednesday night I was visiting Tam at the nursing home (5th day in a row I'd seen her, boy it's been a while since that has happened) and she asked me if I could be there the next day for a christmas party. Tam has always lived for christmas so I wasn't about to turn that one down, and yesterday I was at the home yet again.

I have to say that they put on a really good party for the residents. They had a Santa and Mrs. Claus make an appearance, and he was really good... chock full of cheesy jokes (the kind that kids, families and old people love while the rest of us groan) and doing magic tricks to boot. The residents (and their families, and their families' kids) just loved him, as of course did Tammy. He even had a cheesy joke for me: "I once gave a bald man a comb and you know what? He wouldn't part with it!" Yeah, jokes like that. ;-)

What was sort of neat was that we ended up sitting at a table with Leonard and his wife Irene, and it was our third christmas party in a row with them! Our first was at Freeport hospital when Irene and Tammy were patients there, then last year at Lanark when Tammy and Irene were residents, and finally this year with Leonard now also a resident. Not that that really means anything, but while we were sitting there I mentioned it and we all thought it was pretty cool. Leonard and Irene have been married for 61 years. Damn!

Tammy also introduced me to her friend Sam and his wife Fritzy. Tam wouldn't let go of Fritzy's hand the whole time we were at the table with them, and vice versa too! I don't know what it is, but Tammy and the folks there just seem to have such a bond. I really tear up when I think about it because I doubt that most people Tammy's age, upon finding themselves in a nursing home, would adjust to it like that. All the middle aged residents were consolidated into the one wing a few months back, and having got to know some of them now I can honestly say that Tam's the only one who fits in that well. There are times that Tammy tells me how much she hates being in a nursing home, but they are far outweighed by the ones like last night when she's genuinely happy.

"and god bless us, everyone!"

< Previous HD     Next HD >

posted by ...K @ 11:46 PM