Game Night At Wesley Place

Location: Wesley Place

Date: Thursday, February 05, 2015; 7:00-8:00 pm

I had been here just once before, and that was over a year ago.  I wasn't feeling my best when I took the train there but knew that once I got into the room with the seniors it would be fine.  There was snow on the sidewalks and I was making my way down the treacherous path when our Volunteer Leader Veronica texted me to say that she was running late and that I should take the volunteers to the dining area.  I arrived at the facility and the problem was that I had forgotten where the said dining area was!  By the time I could figure it out, Veronica arrived and we went upstairs.  Well, so much for me helping out.

While Veronica signed up the volunteers, I went inside the community room and saw two ladies sitting and watching TV.  I went over to chat with them and asked if they were ready to play games.  They said sure, but not ‘Uno’ since it puts them to sleep. I introduced myself and learnt their names were Holly and Joan.  I asked what they were watching on TV and Holly said that it was some game show where you had to guess something based on the clues and there were attractive prizes and vacations.  I said that nowadays if you are lucky to get on a show you may make more money in an hour than most of us in a year, and both Holly and Joan agreed with me. They asked if I was the “Boss” and I said that I have never been called that…ever!  Holly then asked if I owned the place.  Well, it just keeps getting better.  I said that I did not, in case they started discussing the next shade of paint that should go on the walls.  I had decided to spend the evening in their company , but first Joan left and then Holly said that she was tired and going to sleep and perhaps next time we could chat.  Story of my life, maybe I should have said that I was indeed “The Boss”.

Aah Italy

As they left, the nurse said that we should come earlier rather than at 7 pm since it was almost time for their bed.  There was a table with 4 women whom I vaguely remembered from my previous visit and I knew they liked to play ‘Uno’. There were enough volunteers there, so I chatted with 2 other ladies who weren't interested in playing.  One of them was wearing an interesting looking ring with some things that looked like charms.  I looked around and saw that there was a board with lot of sticky notes with things written on them, like "White House" and "Italy", and a list of things to do when there.  I asked who's going so that I can be best friends with them.  I learned that this was an activity that they had done, and I saw that they had really captured some cool things to do.  I was pleased to see "Swimsuit" as an essential for Italy just after "Passport".  Looks like the folks here knew how to travel.  There was something poignant about this since none of them would make it to Italy or any of the other places.

The ‘Uno’ game started and one lady wasn't participating.  I said that maybe she and I could provide a running “play-by-play” commentary and that seemed to wake her up and she started chatting, so much so that she was now talking over the game.  A nurse took her to another table and I joined her there with Veronica, who brought a magazine over to show her.  For the next 20 minutes the lady talked non-stop, all non-sequitur.  Her topics were so varied and intertwined that it was as if they were on a stack of paper that she had dropped whereupon they had been mixed and out of sequence when picked up.  We heard things regarding her son - who she said was a mathematician - her daughter-in-law, her grand kids - whom she said she loved spending time with - some trip to Wisconsin, which she called a business pleasure - the best kind I said - her daughter-in-law’s father - who she said was smart – and her coat - which she said wasn't seal skin and which had fur collar and lining.  She kept saying that her coat was missing because someone had taken it and she wanted to find it.

We looked at some of the pictures in magazine like the one of a little girl whom she called adorable and also some of the food pictures.  She commented on the advertisements saying that all of them seemed to have young people.  Most of all, she talked about a house and some renovation like varnishing of floors and bathroom tiles.   She said that although she didn't know much about it, she was the "boss lady".  “Damn right you are”, I commented.  All of this conversation was being repeated on a loop.  She then turned her chair around and said this was the front porch, and that she was going to go through the house to the back porch.  And it was then that I understood.  All of it had been some long forgotten memory. I said that it had been a pleasure sharing her porch with her, even though I had missed the sunset.  As I watched her drag her chair slowly down the corridor, I thought that maybe it is better for these residents to have some of these memories, even though that's all that they are.

Veronica and I joined the hugely contested game of ‘Uno’ with 3 residents and 3 volunteers.  I cheered on one of the ladies and helped with her cards since it looked like she could use it.  On the other hand, another resident Georgia - whom I had met before - knew what she was doing and was competing.  But she was a good sport and would applaud whenever someone won, even if it was a volunteer.  A volunteer won the last game and Veronica said that we should play for a second winner, but the luck of the game meant it went on and on and well past 8 pm. At this rate we would be here all night but another volunteer won - as much as we cheered for one of the ladies - and we decided to quit.  Georgia thanked us profusely for coming and making them happy.  And it had just been one hour…one hour.  Her thanks continued for some time and she blessed and wished us a safe journey.  Before leaving I asked her to take me to Italy, considering there were such great things planned.  None of the residents here are anywhere close to Lakeview Nursing in terms of health.  Most even suffer from advanced dementia.  But they thanked us for making them happy.  Some of these visits are unforgettable and this was one of them.

  *All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy