Visiting the oldies

Wednesday morning was very stressful for me. I woke up 15 mins later than usual, and the kids decided to be at their crankiest best all morning. Even though our cook aunty came to help me, I was late in getting everything ready for the day. The son was hitting the daughter with a big glass bowl on her head, the daughter was throwing tantrums as I refused tablet time for her, and packing lunches took way longer than usual.

We DID finally get out of the door, even if we were very late. Throughout the chaos, I kept my cool. Not once did I raise my voice, or threaten the kids, or give them timeout, or spank them. I felt quite proud of that. 

After dropping the kids off, I headed to the low-income retirement home in town. I reached "on time" at the venue for a planned visit with a few of my colleagues, which itself was an accomplishment, considering the chaos I went through in the morning. I had the goodies prepped and ready the previous night (again a pat on the back for that :)) so I went in, not knowing what to expect.

The oldies were all waiting for us. They did not know who was coming, and what they were bringing. We planned this visit as a last minute thing for this holiday season, based on an email thread from an employee whose mom lives at this facility. We decided to take "treats" - homemade or store-bought, and a "rose" for each person. 

Once the room was full and we had the table all set up, we greeted everyone. We gave a "rose" along with holiday wishes to each person, followed by cookies, and chocolates, and gingerbread, and other goodies. They were all SO happy and pleased. Some took seconds, some saved chocolates like "ferrero rocher" for eating later in their rooms, some had tears in their eyes on seeing the generosity. 

And, I got to chat with a few people as well - the part I was most looking forward to. 

The first was this beautiful 90-year old lady, who was so worried about her hairdo being PERFECT for pictures. She made us delete so many pictures before approving the one below :). She worked her entire life for the federal government, as a database administrator (so amazing), and is still pretty active for her age. She described herself as an avid reader, and I got a feeling I would get along with her really well. 

The next was this World War II Veteran, who spent most of her army life serving in FIJI. A classic Alzheimer's patient, she kept asking me "where are you from" every couple of minutes. Not once was I bothered by it. She was born in 1923 (according to her) so that makes her 90 years old as well. After retiring from the army, she was a high school teacher in the highly ranked Fullerton School District in LA. She had lots of stories to share from her World War Experience.

We also found time to visit a couple of folks who could not come to the main greeting room. The lady in maroon pajamas next to me - she turns "100" next month, on January 23rd. She was so humbled and overwhelmed to see us with a "rose" and "treats" when she opened the door for us. She loved our hugs, and was really appreciative of us visiting her. 

The lady in blue, to my left, was the star of the show. Her name is "Carmel" and it felt as if she ruled the place. A leader. She is 82 years old, but honestly, felt quite younger during our conversation with her.  

I only spent an hour here, and it was just TOO short. I'm definitely going back to spend some more time with these folks. There will be so much to listen, and learn from them. 

I have no grandparents alive as of today. Each of these women reminded me of my grandma, who lived with us since I was born, and passed away a month after I came to the US to pursue my higher education. I was fortunate enough to spend 21 years living with her under one roof. I was very close to her. She was a GEM of a person, who really treated my mom as her "daughter" and not a "daughter-in-law". Very forward thinking for her age, and very talented too. She would have been in her late 90's if she was alive, and I really missed her after meeting these wonderful folks. 

What a great visit, that I will cherish for many years to come!