Life Goes On…In nursing homes, too
— Friday, December 4th, 2009 by Stanwood Camano News by Jennifer Kelly
One of my favorite movies when I was a kid was, “To Sir With Love.” Wow! Sidney Poitier! What a handsome, handsome man!
I loved the lyrics of the song Lulu sang for “Mr. Thackery”
“But how do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume? It isn’t easy but I’ll tryyyyyyyyy.”
In this week of Thanksgiving, I would like to thank a group of people, and like Lulu sang, “It isn’t easy, but I’ll try.”
While it’s been “a few” years since someone has taken me from “crayons to perfume,” the person who did was my mother, Peggy Hutchison.
And while I will thank her the rest of my life, I now want to thank those who are taking care of her—the staff at Warm Beach Senior Community Health Care Center.
To be honest, I had not wanted my mother to go there after she broke her hip because my family was involved with the Warm Beach Stewards, a watchdog group of sorts that has monitored growth in the greater Warm Beach area, one being the Warm Beach Senior Community (WBSC) and the camp and conference center.
It isn’t that we had something against them; I enjoy the Lights of Christmas and their youth activities at the camp are great. It’s just that we loved Port Susan Bay enough to fight for its ecological health when WBSC wanted to build an addition we thought would hurt the bay and land.
Since then, the stewards and WBSC have come to an agreement in terms of the growth, but back then I thought our involvement might cause the staff to resent Mom and us. How wrong I was. I never should have doubted the staff and caretakers there. “Wonderful” doesn’t begin to describe the work they do. They are a supportive, loving, caring group of people. They have not only welcomed her, but they have loved her and shown her that though she might be in a nursing home, life goes on.
They laugh at her self-deprecating sense of humor, talk to her about the “old days” of Warm Beach, take her to dinner, give her baths, pick out her clothes, dispense medicine, help her get stronger, and take her shopping.
She tells them about her 28-year teaching career when she was named Teacher of the Year in the Lake Washington School District and chasing salmon in the Warm Beach river channels when she was a child. They make her feel like she is important, that she still has something to offer, that she matters.
When Mom entered WBSC, she weighed 91 pounds. This is not much for a woman who was 5 feet 7 inches. Since she has been at Warm Beach, she has gained 20 pounds! Through physical therapy there, she has become stronger, making her transfers from her wheelchair to our car much easier.
Last year, Mom told my sister that she had been to the mall buying “some clothes.” We thought, “Oh oh. This is the beginning of the downhill slide.”
You see, my dad had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at the end of his life, often resulting in delusions. However, a few days later, my sister ran into a friend who said, “Hey! I saw your mom at Target yesterday—she looked great!”
It turns out the activity directors at the center had taken Mom and other residents on a shopping trip to Target. They go on a few trips a month—out to lunch, shopping, and sightseeing!
Last summer I went on a trip with them, and I witnessed a miracle of sorts—residents, wheelchairs, walkers, lunches, snacks, and drinks all taken to the San Juan Islands via the Anacortes ferry. Two buses loaded up with residents on one, and walkers, wheelchairs, and supplies on another. What a fun, memorable, joyous day! Seeing my mom and her fellow residents enjoy the sights and sounds of the San Juan Islands was a day I’ll never forget.
Mom has enjoyed breakfasts at IHOP, Chinese and Mexican food out (and brought in), speakers, movies, exercise classes, birthday parties, and other special events related to the holidays. She had her favorite dinner of salmon for her birthday. She is brought books to read and games to play.
So, how do I thank the wonderful people at Warm Beach Senior Community? My first inclination was to name those so important to my mom and to my sisters and me. In the first version of this column that’s just what I did. But I decided against that in the final draft. I might leave someone out--and that draft went over my maximum word length by a several hundred words!
I guess I will just thank them with these simple words: Thank you!
To all of you at Warm Beach Senior Community, thank you from the bottom of all my family’s hearts. You are truly unsung heroes. You don’t get paid enough, but you go to work everyday bringing joy and happiness to those who need it—and not just to the residents but also to those who love and visit them.
Warm Beach Senior Health Care Center is a wonderful place filled with laughter, joy, and hope.
Life goes on in nursing homes, too. Warm Beach Senior Health Care Center is a testament to that. We are lucky to have a facility of its caliber in our neighborhood.