So You Want to Know What We've Been Up to???: September 2007

So i have been working at this Senior Living home since June and i love it. I work 4-5 hours 3X a week. I get to work and i usually help clean up the kitchen from dinner and then we start getting the residents ready for bed. During that time i get to hang out with a few of them and then once they are all in bed i have at least an hour to read my bible and hang out with God. So let me tell you about my new friends...

My favorite is this little Italian woman named Linda. Linda is such a silly old lady. She likes to trick the new people into playing this hand motion game with her where you end up smacking yourself in the face. So if anyone ever comes up to you and asks if you want to play mongue morta (sp?) RUN! She refers to her boobies as her "girls" and always asks "don't you think their beautiful" and if you happen to be in the bathroom when she is in there, she will ask if you want to hear some beautiful music and then she will fart. I have decided that this is how Jess Cheatwood is going to act when she is old.

Margie is an even smaller little old woman then Linda. She tends not to like large groups of people so she stays in her room a lot. Margie has good days and bad days, on good days she doesn't feel confused, on bad days she is very confused. She know that she has trouble remembering things and she finds it very frustrating. She gets very upset if she can remember something. When it really bad we can giver her this medicine for anxiety. We call it her "I don't remember what I'm doing pill" and it makes her laugh every time. After hearing her say quite often "I think I'm going crazy" I said to her "Margie, if you wanted to run around outside naked, i might think you are crazy, but not being able to remember something doesn't qualify as crazy." So she laughed and said, well maybe I'm not crazy yet. An easy way to get her to smile is offer her ice cream or bring by a toddler.

Lenore and Mary are roommates. Lenore is a diabetic and Mary likes to sneak her candy if she thinks no one is paying attention. When she gets caught she always says "what? She likes it and i can't eat it in front of her" You will me Mary's best friend if you bring her a cup with sprite in it and help her take off her shoes. You will be Lenore's best friend if you keep ice in her water and you will be best friends forever if you giver her an extra piece of toast at dinner .

Elenore is this woman in her 90's she is in a wheelchair and cant speak very well from strokes. Eleanore spent many years as a missionary and worked for the red cross. She loves Jesus so much. I have found that when she prays her word are crystal clear and and she makes absolute sense. I think its neat that even though she has such a hard time communicating with everyone in this world, she still has the ability to talk to God. God is Good!

Our other 3 residents are new and are still very independent. Gen is Linda's roommate and she likes to watch the news after dinner and is always watching out for others. Then there is Shoena and Jane. Shoena loves to watch Nehemiah play and likes to tell stories about when she was a nurse. Jane, just celebrated her 92 birthday but she looks like she is in her 70's. I don't do much with these residents because they don't really need any help, but they are fun to be around.

So there is a little about my new friends... so now if i ever talk about work you will know who I'm talking about.