Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Did you...

...ever sleep in an elderly home? even though you are not yet in need of living in such a home?
we did the first 4 nights when we were in the netherlands; we slept at tim's grandmother. not in her room, but in the guest room. as a guest room with only 2 beds in it, it was a decent size, but what if it becomes your living/dining/sleeping room? thats not a lot of space....!
all corridors looked like above (although this is at the cordova museum here close to boston; the corridors of the amsterdam-elderly home were not that photogenic). while staying there, i discovered that the walls are very thin, the shower not so good (not good at all; the temperature was not constant, it kept suddenly becoming hot and then cold again), and the nurses seem to have forgotten that all those people actually live there; in the early morning they were loudly exchanging stories of driving in the snow and what not all while standing in the corridor. maybe they assume that older people feel less and are deaf anyways? or were they just not aware that although they are at work, the people they take care of are at home? i guess it would be good if everyone would once spend some days/nights in such a home.....
anyways... tim's grandmother became 95 today! can you imagine? last year she and tim took a plane to france for a short weekend! and it wouldnt surprise me if her social life  is more active than ours, being locked in a lab for most of the time.... 

7 comments:

biebkriebels said...

I never slept in an eldery home and I hope I never do. I have seen enough 7 years long with a mother and a mother-in-law in there.

Tim said...

i have already reserved us 2 rooms for when we turn 80..

Sylvia Neumann said...

seems a kind of creepy, sorry, no offense....

CaT said...

why creepy?
it was a little weird.. sure. also because we came home so late every evening and then the door was locked and we had to ring the front door forever to get in..
but... this is how many older people live. just because they are old and cannot do everything themselves anymore, while otherwise nothing is wrong with them. and therefore.. its a little sad. they live there and then nurses are loudly talking bullshit in the hallway while you are maybe still sleeping..

Sylvia Neumann said...

yes it is sad I guess, never having had much contact with grandparents I do not have any experience with old people I guess. But your picture looks a bit creepy and I just read a thriller that plays in a old hospital, I guess that's why it seems creepy to me. sorry....

CaT said...

funny! i really liked this picture, the actual corridors of the home in amsterdam looked much more creepy, dark red carpet and also red walls, it looked soo dark! this here is just the place where you hang your coat in the museum where we went with you! (but then we were only outside).
anyways, i also didnt have much contact with old people, but i worked in an elderly home (in the restaurant), and sometimes really was annoyed by how these people were treated by the nurses and all. yes, those people are OLD, but not all of them are senile (and even if they were... there is something like respect! and i often have the feeling that old people are treated as if they cannot decide for themselves anymore etc, while they are just OLD and physically cannot do everything anymore, doesnt mean their brain is dysfunctional as well! probably they are a lot more wise than i am. ah well.. i hope you kind of see my point; my english is not that good to write it down! :)

Tim said...

maybe they keep al the old people behind that door!