Bringin It with the Elderly :)

My mother in law Betty is a sweet little 86 year old woman with dementia. We struggled and struggled earlier this year as it came time to put her into a care facility where she would be taken care of 24/7 but out of her home with her hubby. But God was so faithful every painful step of the way and now here we are - 4 months later and she is doing SO WELL, has many friends, and is even playing along in the daily activities with her new friends. Tonight my daughter Lyndsi's art was in an art show near where Betty lives, so we went to the show and then on to see Betty. Its a funny thing about dementia; it brings people back to childlike ways; no matter who they were or what titles they held as younger men and women. There are nurses, teachers, professors, accountants, and fighter pilots from World War II living here. Each one has a story to tell and when we showed up, we were greeted with big smiles and hugs. I tell ya, its like we're celebrities arriving on the scene. My kids hug all the grandmas and grandpas and are told how cute they are and how much they've grown. Every time. :) Even if they just saw them three days before! :)

So we arrive, and typically take Betty for a walk outside in the garden. She and all the residents use walkers, so she'll grab her walker (or whoevers happens to be closest to where she's sitting - ha!) and we'll head out into the (cool & breezy today) afternoon. I love those times where she tries to remember the names of the flowers and tells me about her friends. :) Today, we ended up with a couple others joining us; we jokingly called ourselves a parade. One of my favorite moments is when we came in and passed by a wall of hats hanging on hooks for "dress up" for the residents. :) We all grabbed one and had a photo moment. :)

But what I really love about this place is that there is daily exercise of the brain and/or body. They get PE! :) What is PE for little elderly people who all use walkers? They sit them all in a big circle in the main living room and today they set up bowling pins with a rubber bowling ball and everyone got to BOWL! :) I volunteered as the pin setter upper (thats an official term ;)) and head "cheerleader", whooping it up as each one set up and bowled. I tell you it was the cutest thing ever. Many didnt remember until they were told by workers "Mr. Gates was a big bowler in his time!" or "Betty used to play in a league for years." and then they'd roll that ball with a bit more attitude than the time before! :)

Everyone got one turn (2-3 rolls) to knock the pins down, before their short attention spans were shot and ready for snack time, but it was SO CUTE! If only I'd logged them into WOWY!? ;o) hee The point here is that you're never too old to get active and find fun ways to get moving - WITH FRIENDS! :) Have a great week!
TRACI :)