Location: Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center
Date: Monday, June 01, 2015; 6:15-8:15 pm
I arrived to see a giant dog in the waiting area along with
a smaller one. As usual, the bigger dog
was quiet white the smaller one was yapping.
I went to the Bingo room to see that Jim was already there with Jack,
who was wearing a terrific “Hawaiian
Shirt”. I asked Jim where he got off
the bus when he visited and he said “Mr.
Lee”, which I learnt was a liquor store. Seems like a perfect stop to me. Marvin, the leader at ‘HGS’ came in and he was doing Bingo. We chatted for a bit till the dogs arrived. I was talking with Holly, who was particularly
impressed with the big dog. She mentioned
how she had a ‘German Shepherd’ and how
one night her husband had come home drunk and had tried to abuse the dog. She said that she took her dog away that night
saying that she couldn’t stand animals being abused.
 |
| Gus! |
There were 4 dogs in the house and Veronica paired me with
the big dog who was called “Gus”,
short for Gustav. Another volunteer was
with us, and along with Gus’ owner, and it was the first time for everyone except
me. We started on the 2nd
floor and since our first stop was with David, I said that Gus was going to have
the massage of his life – which David of course provided. I saw that he had an ‘iMac’ on his bed and I said that it looked good. He said that he had paid a lot of money for
that and then proceeded to show us his other gadgets, like a phone, another
computer and a nice digital camera. I
said that he was all set as far as technology was concerned and come next week,
he should take pictures of the dogs. Next
stop was with a gentleman who was excited to see Gus and asked if he was “Alaskan”. Gus was not a ‘Husky’ but some “Japanese
breed”, though a stray. This
gentleman however, continued talking about Alaska, Russian spying and how they
were shooting down planes over that airspace, as well as all about the ‘Air Force’! I said that I usually stay away from such news
and if only people had more dogs in their lives, there would be less fighting. I asked if the gentleman had been in the military
and sure enough he had.
Next, we stopped to see a woman who always looks as if she is
ready to go out. She had put on lipstick
and was wearing pearls. I asked if she
had a date to get to, but the poor thing couldn't listen well. All she kept saying was that her roommate was
sick. Then we stopped to see a gentleman
who was excited to see Gus and kept talking about his dog, though he couldn't
remember much except that he had dogs when he was younger. I went inside Polly’s room and asked if she
was ready and she said no. She said that
she was sick and didn't want to transfer it to the dog. I said come on, and she couldn’t help herself
and so agreed to take a quick peek. We
went in for a bit and then moved to Loritta.
She was happy to finally see a big dog over here and was chatty as
usual. She was especially admiring Gus' fur and with good reason, since it
really was quite pretty. Before going to the 3rd, one nurse said
that Gus had peed on some linen. However, that wasn't quite true since he had
not been anywhere close to the linen cart. Poor Gus was a victim of a frame up!
On the 3rd I peeked inside Pearl's room and she
was with some other volunteers. She said
that the vision in her right eye has deteriorated overnight, to the extent that
she couldn't read anymore. I said that I
would stop by later after doing my rounds.
We were about to go to see Hannah, when a woman beckoned us in. She
usually doesn't like visitors and so I was surprised to have been summoned. She had plush doggie toys in there and liked
that Gus was huge, but was also scared when he went over to get petted. We went to Hannah’s room and she said that
her lawyer was smart and I would soon have my autographed copy of her book. She does have a good memory and I told my
fellow volunteer about Hannah’s book, Johnny B and other stories like her
wanting to sit on a poach with a rocking chair and eating oatmeal! Before we left, she lamented how few cats
visit during this project. Our last stop
was with Jerry and Gus made a beeline for the treats, though he was on a diet
and so couldn't have more than two. Jerry
asked how old he was and his owner replied 5, and that he was still young
enough to get the ladies!
Gus left and I came back up to chat with Pearl. She was still with the other volunteers and told
them that I was one of her “supports”.
I asked if they had seen Pearl's jewelry
and she made one of the volunteers try on a necklace. Pearl can tell perfectly what matches a person
and said that she was going to make me wear something whether I liked it or
not! After the others left I asked about
her eyesight and she said that there was an injection that could stop the
deterioration and she was scheduled to get it on Thursday. But the rapid nature of the decline meant that
she had asked to move it up to tomorrow, and I said that it was a wise move. We talked about her moving away in 2 weeks
and I asked if she was ready. She said yes, because that would not only be a change
of scenery, but also force her to be independent I said that I was busy for a month, but would
try to stop by next week on my way back from another project. She called me a sweetheart and I replied
saying that some women do have a good taste!
I came down and saw that Emma was waiting in the Bingo room
since no one had come to take her upstairs. I wheeled her into the elevator and then asked
if she had won. She enthusiastically
said, “Oh yes, a dollar”, and laughed
when I said the usual “Don't spend it all
in one place”. As I dropped her off in
her room, she said that her daughter would be visiting soon. I hope so, but having never seen her have any
visitors, I doubt that. I left after asking
the nurse to help her to bed.
*All the client's names have been changed in
order to respect their privacy
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