a small part . . .
On Halloween day I went to a local assisted living/nursing home. My friend Gail, whose father-in-law Artie is there, asked me if I’d come and take pictures of the residents. Gail and her husband, Jim, stop by there every day after work to see Artie.
I’m not going to post any of those pictures here, but I did take about 30+ and printed them up so Gail can make a collage to hang in the main gathering room.
It was a festive time for some and I was very happy for them, but there were also many blank faces with eyes just staring and confused. I went around to each resident and introduced myself and always asked first if I could take their picture. The ones who understood me, smiled big smiles (and the women especially, looked flattered, and patted and arranged their hair), and when I showed each one their picture afterwards in the viewing screen of my camera…..more smiles.
I was drawn in artistically by some of the things I saw as I walked down hallways, looked in open doors and out windows. Those are the pictures I will share here, but there’s a telling mood of loneliness in them, too. They allow the imagination to tell the story....they set the mood without being too revealing. Even though it was a party of sorts that day, every person I saw made me think and wonder what their life before this was about, their families, their careers, who they touched, who loved them, who they loved, what their thoughts were of each day....
I felt such a sense of sadness there, the beginning of the end journey for so many. It could be my fate...it could be anyone's fate. I asked Gail how she could be so upbeat and come here every day, not just for Artie, because she would go around and interact with most all of the residents. Her reply was, “They need me, so many of them don’t have anyone. It’s hard, but I don’t want them to feel forgotten, so I am just doing my little part.”
Asleep in a chair by the window…. The sunlight streaming through the curtains caught my eye as I walked by the open door. On the table is an opened bag of candy, a TV remote and a small bottle that tipped over.
a veranda with a view to the outside . . .
curtains and an empty bed . . .
Waiting to be occupied…
More waiting to be occupied….
Reflections in a TV. This is one of my favorites.
One of the dining rooms . . .
As I was leaving, someone dressed as Charlie Chaplin came in the front door. I asked her if she was one of the doctors and she laughed and said, “No, I’m a therapist, and I sometimes come dressed as Charlie Chaplin and it tickles the residents so much.”
…just doing her little part, too.
Lastly, here are three of the employees, and that’s Gail in the bee costume on the left.
I’m not going to post any of those pictures here, but I did take about 30+ and printed them up so Gail can make a collage to hang in the main gathering room.
It was a festive time for some and I was very happy for them, but there were also many blank faces with eyes just staring and confused. I went around to each resident and introduced myself and always asked first if I could take their picture. The ones who understood me, smiled big smiles (and the women especially, looked flattered, and patted and arranged their hair), and when I showed each one their picture afterwards in the viewing screen of my camera…..more smiles.
I was drawn in artistically by some of the things I saw as I walked down hallways, looked in open doors and out windows. Those are the pictures I will share here, but there’s a telling mood of loneliness in them, too. They allow the imagination to tell the story....they set the mood without being too revealing. Even though it was a party of sorts that day, every person I saw made me think and wonder what their life before this was about, their families, their careers, who they touched, who loved them, who they loved, what their thoughts were of each day....
I felt such a sense of sadness there, the beginning of the end journey for so many. It could be my fate...it could be anyone's fate. I asked Gail how she could be so upbeat and come here every day, not just for Artie, because she would go around and interact with most all of the residents. Her reply was, “They need me, so many of them don’t have anyone. It’s hard, but I don’t want them to feel forgotten, so I am just doing my little part.”
Asleep in a chair by the window…. The sunlight streaming through the curtains caught my eye as I walked by the open door. On the table is an opened bag of candy, a TV remote and a small bottle that tipped over.
a veranda with a view to the outside . . .
curtains and an empty bed . . .
Waiting to be occupied…
More waiting to be occupied….
Reflections in a TV. This is one of my favorites.
One of the dining rooms . . .
As I was leaving, someone dressed as Charlie Chaplin came in the front door. I asked her if she was one of the doctors and she laughed and said, “No, I’m a therapist, and I sometimes come dressed as Charlie Chaplin and it tickles the residents so much.”
…just doing her little part, too.
Lastly, here are three of the employees, and that’s Gail in the bee costume on the left.