Out of the mouths of senior citizens....

NoH8 · October 2007

My 98 yo grandmother just moved from her own condo to an assisted living community a few weeks ago. She was reluctant to go, because she doesn't like being around "old people" (hello????). I visited her for the first time earlier today because it's almost 2 hrs away and was encouraging her to get involved in activities. She has most of her faculties, but her short term memory is virtually nonexistant. She's still quite bright, but has a bit of a blank look so I think it might prevent some of the more with-it ladies from approaching her.

I convinced her to go to the word games activity and went with her. The instructor wrote out the word with about 20 letters that I can't even remember, and the women in the room had to try to find words of 6 letters of more within that word. They couldn't use a letter more than once unless it appeared more than once. I was impressed how well they did, coming up with words like article, particle etc.

One older lady shouts out, "clitoris" which could actually be made from the letters in the word, Tongue out . I busted out laughing as did the instructor, about 1/2 of the ladies giggled as if someone said a dirty joke, one lady asked what it was and a few others just looked blank. My grandmother didn't say anything, which was fine by me-- I'd have hated it if I had to explain it to her.

Anonymous · October 2007

That is too funny!!!!

I'll be joining Grandmom soon! LOL

Shirley

JustOne · October 2007

That's hysterical, Amy. Hope your grandma adjusts to her new surrounding quickly and joins in on the fun!

I was an asst. cook years ago in a nursing home and oh, the stories I could tell! I once broke up a fight between two women residents when they were fighting over a man and got such a pinching from one of them.

I was usually called Waitress from across the dining room and was sometimes told to put the meal on their 'tab', and sometimes told I'd get my 'tip' tomorrow... Smile

Oh, the complaints about the food! Justified, of course.

Bless their hearts. I dearly loved 'most' of them.

~Pam

tawyna1 · October 2007

i just dream i can live to be 98 . i think your grandma will do great.

i feel like i could be joining your grandma soon and i am 30. Smile

JoanofArdmore · October 2007

LOL Amy! Those old ladies are a darn sight sharper than I am.I'm a pharmaceutically-made old lady, 66 but 86 from Femara.And, as Shirly says, I'm sure I'll be joining them soon.Only I really suck at anagrams.

They'll hate me.

Amy-since we live in the same area, may I ask where your gran is?I am truely starting to think of retirement communities, just because I have criteria that may be heard to meet, and so it might take me quite long to find a place.

My criteria:

There must be a kitchen in my apt.

There must be a Whole Foods nearby.

My dog must be welcome.

hugs, j

NoH8 · October 2007

Joan she lived in Atlantic City before going to the assisted living community in Linwood. It's called Brandall Estates http://www.brandycare.com/properties/al//home.php?1469225c050efd1859805c3f59ba09f4 . They have a skilled nursing unit for those who need more care. My gm said they allow pets, but I didn't see any signs of animals so I'm not sure. I'd never move anywhere they didn't allow my cats. She has a tiny kitchen with an apartment size fridge and sink, but no over. She could have a toaster oven or microwave. I don't think there's a whole foods nearby. For me I'd need my trader joe's. I'm actually going to the ardmore one on tuesday!

My gm is amazing. She played tennis until she was 90, meditates every day, lifts weights (tiny ones) 5 times a week.

Pam I can only imagine! My gm says the food is good there. I think she's adjusted quite well. She really didn't want to go, but is glad to be there now.

I can only take my gm in small doses. I don't have a ton of patience for being asked the same thing repeatedly so it takes a ton of energy to appear like I have that patience when I'm with her. I'd visit her more often if fibromayalgia wasn't constantly kicking my butt and it was closer than a 1 1/2-2 hr ride. I just have to make sure I have enough of my own emotional reserves to be ok while giving to her because it's hard.

Anonymous · October 2007

She played tennis until she was 90!? Gee! I couldn't even play table tennis (ping pong)! Medidate? What's that? Oh, that's right, I can look it up in the dictionary. Embarassed And, weights? Wow, no wonder this woman is doing so well.

I can only imagine having to listen to Grandma asking or telling something over and over and over. LOL My dh does that sometimes. Surprised

What gets me is "genetically" my family lived to pretty good ripe old ages. Grandma was in her 80s and so was Grandpa. My dad (God rest his sole) died when he was almost 93. My mom is 91 and living in a nursing home. I don't think my genes are gonna be as good as theirs. Tongue out

Shirley

NoH8 · October 2007

Meditate -- a typo

Anonymous · October 2007

Certainly I didn't make a mistake...no not me! LOL I meant "meditate." LOL I think it's amazing and wonderful she can do this.

Okay, I used spell check and it said no words were misspelled. Now, I'm going to do it one more time since I typed these last two sentences. Laughing

Shirley

PS OOPS! I misspelled "misspelled." I used one "s" instead of two. Now I'll have to use spell check all over again! Yell

No misspellings (and no more spell check).

Anonymous · October 2007

Oh, Amy, can I borrow your gm? I love older people and could listen to their stories for hours! She sounds as though she's cared for herself very well too...I admire that and hope to emulate it.

As for the woman who got 'clitoris' correct, I'll bet she has a nice little 'massager' tucked away bedside. As they say 'Use it or lose it'....bet she's using it Cool

~Marin

Poppy · October 2007

That is too funny! I would've died laughing when the one woman asked what it was. Hooray for grandma being 98 and not wanting to be around old people!

Erica

JoanofArdmore · October 2007

Amy!Watta babe your granny is!!Is she your mom or your dad's mother?

When she askes you the same Qs over & over, can she hear you when you talk?

She played tennis until she was 90??

As Shirley implied--I couldnt play tennis if my life depended on it.Can barely walk with this Femara-given arthritis..Gimp.Schlep.

Thanks for the info about retirement community.! I shop Trader Joe's too, it's very awesome.Couldnt do w/out either of the stores.Are you going to TJs in the morning(like a great American?) Because I'd love to meet you, in the late afternoon or evening(The after work rush.But we'd have plenty of time to talk, standing on line!)

Boy, your granny must have lived really beautifully in AC!When I was a girl, it was still a fabulous place.And very elegant.

NoH8 · October 2007

Shirley I thought I was the one who made the typo Laughing !

Marin--- oh the visual of the massager tucked away. I just hope if my gm has one I NEVER have to find it Tongue out - TMI (too much info) !

Erica. I was with my cousin when she said that and my cousin said (in a joking way), "You're 98, if that's not old what is." My gm got really incensed when my cousin and I went to visit her one birthday and she told the security guard my GM was 94-- she didn't want him to think she was "old". If it was me I'd be shouting it from the roof, "I'm 98 and a 60 year breast cancer survivor". Apparently there's some social politics around age with her crowd, since they're all old and have lost friends and family they're leery of being friends with very old people (which is relative I guess). It's kind of sad, but understandable.

Joan, you bring up a good point. My gm hates to wear her hearing aids because, you guessed it, they make her look "old". She FINALLY agreed to wear one, which I guess isn't nearly as old looking as wearing two Wink . I think I talked her into wearing both because I helped her realize that when she misses conversation, her friends might think she's not as "with it" as she really is. I noticed when we were sitting outside a woman said hi to her and she didn't react because she didn't hear it. Since my gm only wants to be seen with "with it" people, that seemed to mean something. If I can, I try to get her to repeat back to me when it's important, to make sure she heard. I do think more of a short term memory problem-- the questions are always the same, "tell me what you do every day from when you wake up until you go to sleep" (I just love answering that several times in an hour). "Are you still dating Marianne." I was never dating her, we're just friends and she's straight and married, but I think because I brought her with me one time and she knows I'm gay it gets confused. Funny, funny story- I told my gm I'm lesbian a few years ago. I never tried to hide it because her son is gay and she's open minded. One time when she asked if I met any cute men I told her I was only in the market for cute women. She said that's ok, as long as you're happy. Well....we had the same conversation practically verbatim several times before she remembered, which cracked me up. I think it finally sunk in for good around the same time I brought my friend with me when I visited her so that's where the questions come from. She did live quite well in AC, unfortunately I seemed to have missed the rich gene that runs in my family Wink .

Out of the mouths of senior citizens....

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