Gail has been a food server in a senior living community for fifteen years. “Our community service team donned masks and closed communal dining early in this pandemic” she reported. “But we still lost some of our food serving team because they were afraid of taking the virus home to their families.” She went on to comment on how helpful … Continue reading
A friend of a friend told me her 12-year-old daughter was creating greeting cards while being at home during the pandemic. She handed them into a local group who were passing them to a local organization. They were creating connections by sending cards, drawings, and notes to Assisted Living and retirement community residents nearby. The mother was delighted to see … Continue reading
Get Ready! Get Set! Go! “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” UCLA coach John Wooden … Continue reading
It seems like Halloween, the food serving team is dressing up in weird costumes and carrying grandma’s dust cloth. Actually it’s the attire necessary for today’s responsibility for being on the job. Face masks, gloves, and cover-ups that the surgical team wore in the operating room is now what we see wherever caregivers gather to take care of residents in … Continue reading
Already many stories have come out of our physical distancing for more than a month now. One I heard recently concerned a woman’s husband who was ill but not with the symptoms of the novel coronavirus. The husband didn’t have a cough at all, or fever, muscle pain, chills, loss of taste or smell, or any shortness of breath. He … Continue reading
The story came to me recently about a conversation between a few friends. They were reminiscing on FaceTime about their earlier married years when they used to have themed parties on Saturday nights after settling the kids into bed for the babysitter. Now they were looking forward to themed dinner times to break up the monotony of being physically distanced … Continue reading
The food serving team in a community sets the ambiance for each mealtime and everyone agrees that mealtimes are the most important time of the day for residents. With today’s required physical distancing, food servers are often the one human, in-the-flesh-link to the outside world for some residents. They carry the most responsibility, not only bringing in food the resident … Continue reading
The story came to me about a woman lamenting the loss of her friend’s meeting for meals at noon. It was her big social time of the day. Special. A reason to pouf her hair and add a pretty scarf around her neck. Now she was hovering in physical distancing. All meals were brought to her room. Her lifted spirits … Continue reading
A friend of a friend told me how upset he was because he couldn’t enter his mother’s assisted living community to visit her. “That’s why I moved to this area,” he said. “I visit her three times a week until today. The door was closed to me. I want to see how she is doing.” It was explained to him … Continue reading
The Coronavirus has changed the landscape of our lives in a matter of two weeks. A week ago I entered the hospital to visit my husband Mike after his elective back surgery. First, I was screened, temperature taken and a series of questions to answer. I was the only visitor he was allowed to have; not one visitor at a … Continue reading
