Of the three, Mabel preferred one called La Riviera, on a country road in Marin. There was nothing Mediterranean about it; most of the buildings were made of brick, but it was clean, and many of the residents were smiling. The director, a nurse named Janet Sullivan, tried to make Mabel feel welcome, but my old friend wasn’t going to surrender easily. Finally, another fall landed her in the hospital with sprained wrists, and she agreed to go to La Riviera.
The first night after she moved in, Mabel called Sylvia demanding to return to her home. The first week she refused to come to the dining area for meals and ate in her room. But gradually she met a couple of women and one man she could talk to.
She started engaging in some of the Riviera activities, helping out in the garden, then joining the poetry group. After about six weeks, Sylvia said her mother was much livelier and had started painting in the art class.
I was happy to hear the good news, but it was two more months before I was able to see for myself. I was shocked at how different Mabel looked and sounded. She looked right at me and smiled. She was speaking in full sentences and discussing current events, which she hadn’t done in years. “I love the painting class,” she told me. “I’ll bet you didn’t know I wanted to be an artist when I was in high school. Well, now I am! We’re going to have a show with some other residences at City Hall, and my painting is going to be exhibited!”
According to Nurse Sullivan, that kind of improvement is not unusual. “It’s having the company, having the opportunity to use that part of their minds,” she told me. “At any age, lonely people can lose some of their social skills. But in my experience, they can usually get them back if they have a good reason to.”
A provocative cliffhanger that begs the question: do the aged (but lucid) have the right to choose a life of isolation, melancholy, and even unhealthiness, as younger people do?
(Ideally, I think, people of all ages should have people in their lives to intervene if they develop such tendencies. But freedom seems important, too.)
Good point, Maureen. I do think sometimes elders get moved against their will, and it’s usually not good for them. This time it worked out. I just want people to consider the possibility that making a change, even at very advanced age, is not necessarily the end and can lead to some good things. That’s why I posted Mabel’s story.
Nice story. It even feels like a thriller sometimes…. what will happen?
What a wonderful story. Looking at situations through someone else’s experience helps us imagine what we would or could do if that happened to us.
You must be a wonderful nurse to many people. It takes understanding, patience and an ability to communicate in order to help people who don’t know they need help.
Wonderful David. Older people really relish that kind of listening and allowing them to have choices in the decision process. I know my mother would have ignored us if we didn’t respond to her thoughts about what she wanted. And it’s a gift if there’s someone sweet and patient in an aging life to help them reflect on the possibilities ahead. Thanks for your strength and perceptive accounting of Sylvia and Mabel.
At 62, with renal failure, and continuing declining health, I face the prospect of needing assisted living. It’s scarey, even when one reads such wonderful stories as this. Each new person you meet will not know your history, and telling it it may sound like a windbag bragging, when it is only personal history and a minor story of surviving. The best reason to tell it is that it becomes an affecting story like yours, David. How wonderfully sensative you are.
David, this is so important and you have managed to tell it like it is, with compassion and heart. Thank you for all you do to make the world a better place!
Thank you so much for sharing this story as you have David. You write with such awareness and empathy that I feel I am “standing inside” your story and I am the silent listener. This is touching and inspiring! Thank you!
This article is very meaningful and timely for me. My sister sounds just like the elderly mother in this story. She has her home full of memories and will not discuss the possibility that she needs more help. I tend to be bossy and tell her what I think she ought to do……..wow! Lot of good that does! Thank you for carefully pointing out some positive ways to help my sister deal with her declining ability to care for herself.
Will have to keep this story in mind if my time comes to go to an assisted care home. Truly. Toni
David, this couldn’t possibly be more timely. We’re putting a deposit on an assisted living apartment this week for my mom. The last time she moved was 9o years ago, when she was 11 months old! I look forward to reading this and sharing it with my family.
Thanks, David, this is a wonderful story. I work with older community dwelling adults in my practice, and talk about this kind of problem with them all the time. People of all ages, but especially older ones, do poorly when they’re so isolated, and I wish there were more and better housing options for those who may not need assisted living, but do need more other human beings in their lives on a daily basis. So much to think about…
Your article on Senior Housing was incredibly sensitive and pertinent. Currently, I have an elderly mother who is in need of more consistent care and increased human contact. By emphatic choice she remains at home. Thank you for sharing your insights on this very relevant subject.