The new Mansion Activities Center is just about finished; I spent much of the morning there with Paryese, the new overall Mansion Activities Director (Memory Care and Resident), and Bonnie, the new Activity Director for the residents (we’ve worked together for several years) and Zinnia.
Paryese showed me the spot above where the four computer tablets we bought earlier this week. There was an overage of several hundred dollars, which went to purchasing new tablecloths, special spinning balloons for the windows, and perhaps another tablet or two.
We sat with my Iphone and ordered what they needed on the spot.
Paryese and Bonnie are open to new thinking about diverse activities that could be stimulating and empowering for the residents and the people in Memory Care.
A beautiful cabinet on the wall is stuffed with art supplies and puzzles. Paryese and Bonnie have named it the “Maria Art Cabinet,” hoping to lure Maria in to teach more art lessons. I don’t think that will be a problem, although Sue Silverstein has the same idea for the Fall classes with her refugee students at Bishop Gibbons. Maria is much in demand, and she has a heavy art-making schedule, and she’s not giving that up, so she’ll have some scheduling issues to face.
She loves teaching at the Mansion and with the refugee students, who are clamoring for her to return. We’ll work it out.
I love the Media Center idea taking shape.
It’s a radical change from the old system of drawing and sketching only. It’s a great thing to try.
There will be a big-screen TV (already there) and a row of computer tablets with access to Wi-Fi, games, puzzles, e-mail, texts, and Zoom for virtual talking and seeing and speaking with their relatives and grand-children and great-grandchildren. The residents are very grateful to the Army Of Good for getting them these tablets; they will open up all sorts of possibilities and they asked me to thank you.
Some people on the outside complained to me yesterday that we’ve already bought tablets and computers for some of the residents – why do we need more? – and that is true. But in elderly care very little is static, and almost all of those residents who got the original tablets are gone, either dead or to nursing homes. The things we give them do not last a lifetime or anything close. People with family members in assisted care understand this, but it is hard for other people to grasp sometimes.
We can’t rehab their machines for others; there are legal, financial, and bureaucratic issues. I don’t know when residents leave or pass away and what happens to their belongings, as a volunteer I don’t receive that information. We have structured the tablet donations differently. Many of the residents have memory and visual problems, and they often damage the machines by accident. We learn and adapt.
I can’t promise that I won’t be coming back again for more in a year or so or even sooner. That’s the nature of this work, no matter what we buy. This time, the tablets will go to the activity room, not individual residents. People will have to sign up for them, and they won’t be leaving the room.
Tech support is almost impossible at the Mansion; sometimes, the tablets break down and can’t be repaired. The ones I got are simple and made for the elderly. The reviews say they last a long time, but it’s unclear what that means in terms of real-time. When I can afford it, I buy four-year guarantees.
The new ones coming tomorrow are also the cheapest I’ve yet found, $104 apiece. Thank you for buying them and trusting me. I’ll keep you posted. The photo above shows where they will be going.
(Bonnie and Paryese setting up the new activity room.)
Friday, the Mansion is hosting a picnic on the front line, complete with a tent and 100 cupcakes, which were made today. Zinnia and I will be there, 12- 2.
Another exciting idea for me is the idea of my starting up a Mansion Men’s Group. There are eight or nine men at the Mansion; there were hardly any before the pandemic. Paryese is eager to give the men activities that are appropriate for them and exclusive to them. We got them a pool table and some sports puzzles, but my idea is to host a Men’s Group and see what happens.
I’ve started and run several men’s groups, and I have some ideas on how to deal with older men. Several of the men are younger than me and are energetic and sexually active. There will be things to talk about.
Men are not held in high regard these days by lots of people, including me, but I have empathy for many men. They are not all privileged patriarchs, they have never had a movement to support them (some would argue they don’t need one), but I think they are desperate to talk about their lives with one another. And they do need a place and way to do that.
It’s never easy to get men to speak openly about their emotional lives, but I’ve already met several of the new men at the Mansion, and I think I might be able to get them to open up. They are very open to talking with me.
Several have come to my meditation class, and I sense they would like a way to talk openly with the other men. I’m eager to try; I suppose it’s a long shot. But I have a good feeling about it.
With the pandemic danger receding, Zinnia and I have resumed our visits to individual rooms. There are a lot of animal lovers at the Mansion, and they are crazy about Zinnia. We met a new resident Anne – she has photos of all the Labs she has owned on her wall. She’s on our weekly visit list, the two connected, as you might imagine. She pleaded with us to come back often. We will. Zinnia just plopped down in front of her and awaited petting.
With the pandemic receding, my work at the Mansion is picking up again, and I am glad of that. I missed it. The new team is open to new ideas and to my involvement. That and the refugee move to Bishop Gibbons High School will keep me busy, focused, and engaged. A lot of good to do.