Yesterday I went to visit my friend Billy at her nursing home. I volunteer with the local group Family Eldercare. They do outreach with the elderly and mentally and physically disabled adults, specifically the individuals in these groups who have no family or friends to look out for them. In the worst cases, these people have been victims of neglect or abuse by family members or caretakers at facilities.
Billy is the most adorable person I know.
She has long white hair streaked with individual black strands that she keeps parted in the middle and held back by a green-jeweled bobby pin on each side. Although she was born in Round Rock and lived her adult life – she will be 80 in November – in Austin, her native language is Spanish and that is what she is most comfortable speaking. She thinks her English isn’t any good. It’s great as far as I can tell. Sometimes she doesn’t know what I said, but I usually find that if I speak slowly, use simple words, don’t run my thoughts together, and face her direction, she can understand me just fine. These are usually signs of hearing problems, but her charts say nothing about this.
She does have a touch of dementia or Alzheimer’s. This time she remembered very well who I was, I had seen her last Saturday, and she asked about her social worker with Family Eldercare. I have only visited Billy a handful of times, about thirty minutes a pop. So far we’ve just chatted about her health, her childhood, the nursing home, my job, etc.
Billy likes beer. She brings it up every visit. “Do you drink beer?” Each time she asks, she leans in and looks me in the eyes, very earnest. I usually say something like, Yeah, it’s good. I have some every once in while. Then she tells me how she likes it, but they don’t let her have it there. Billy would drink several beers a day. She drank at home and in the park. She was basically an alcoholic – she would buy beer and wander around the parks all day while the niece she shared a one bedroom with was working or out with friends. Then one day, drunk, she tripped over a tree limb in a park and busted herself up pretty bad. This can happen when someone is 78 and not drunk, so it’s amazing it didn’t happen to her sooner. This is how she became a ward of the state and now a ward of Family Eldercare.
Yesterday Billy asked me about beer. So, I told her that that morning I had made beer ice cream. She chuckled and turned her head. She couldn’t believe it, beer flavored ice cream! We were sitting in the TV room and there was a man in there on a lounge-style wheel chair and he laughed. He said his name is Tony. He seemed like a real sweetheart. The whole time Billy and I had been talking, I could see that he would sometimes look in our direction and other times make noises that seemed like he was responding to what he heard. It was difficult to tell as he did not have very good control of his body, his speech was very thick and slurred, and he had trouble focusing his eyes on anything. But like I said, he did seem very sweet. And I loved that he thought the beer flavored ice cream was pretty ridiculous. Shortly after that, two of the staff came by and asked if he was ready for his nap. He shook his head no and the man replied, “You know Mama wants you to take your nap, are you sure?” Still, Tony said no. It is not a very nice facility, there have been some minor neglect issues with some of the residents, and of course the staff is overworked and underpaid.
PS Her name isn’t really Billy, there are privacy issues and since this blog is open to the public, I didn’t want to use her real name.
7.27.2008
My new friend
Yesterday I went to visit my friend Billy at her nursing home. I volunteer with the local group Family Eldercare. They do outreach with the elderly and mentally and physically disabled adults, specifically the individuals in these groups who have no family or friends to look out for them. In the worst cases, these people have been victims of neglect or abuse by family members or caretakers at facilities.
Billy is the most adorable person I know.
7.23.2008
Confessional
I mentioned this idea to Jr and P the a few weeks ago and they liked it. This is a new recurring post item called "Confessional." The idea is you have a place to anonymously unburden yourself of whatever you wish. Or you can own your shit like I am about to do. So, if you did something you're not to proud of, list it here. You may find you are not alone. My confession is below.
7.14.2008
Your brain won't believe what your tongue is telling it!
I have truly been blessed by the gods. Just a little over an hour ago, they smiled down on me. They looked at my whole life, saw how hard I tried, saw how many times I failed, and they decided to bestow upon me a gift. A boon to my brain. A seed of inspiration. Light bulb.
Fuck yeah, I made the best ice cream ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7.08.2008
Yes.
I really wish I could see him/them live. I had tickets to a Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds show in September or October of 2001. You can guess why they had to reschedule most of the tour...anyway, I didn't make it to the rescheduled show. :(
I love this. Such a great song, and the performance is right on, and they sound so tight. LOVE. I listened to this song so much last year. Refuckindickulous.
7.07.2008
Kuh-ute!
I got another "Cute!" today at the library. It seems that among the bookish transient, this is the fave descriptive for a little lady like myself.
7.06.2008
7.04.2008
As it is the summer
Watermelon eating should commence at approximately 7:45 AM, monday - friday, and within two hours of rising on the weekends. Continue throughout the day. Include at least four ounces of watermelonade in the evening, but attempt to drink ten.
Follow this regimen from June until September and you will find your days and nights to be quite delicious. Recipe follows.
7.02.2008
the BEST news! (almost)
Stole this from MSN:
Report: Shannen Doherty Considering '90210' Return
July 2, 2008, 5:54 PM EST
Zap2it.com
The folks behind the new "90210" are hoping to set up a reunion for the girls of West Beverly Hills High that includes Brenda Walsh.
According to an Entertainment Weekly report, it looks like Shannen Doherty is now thinking to reprise her role from the original "Beverly Hills, 90210" for the CW update premiering this fall.
Producers of the new "90210," Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah, have met with Doherty, who reportedly is interested, depending on the story and money offered.
Even of those issues are addressed, there are other concerns that make Doherty's participation tricky. Not only does she have a reputation for being difficult on set, but she famously had an angry tussle with Garth back in the day. It's difficult to speculate if any animosity would linger or if the two actresses' characters would even cross paths.
In the update, Garth as the grown up Kelly Taylor is now a guidance counselor at the high school, while Spelling's Donna Martin is the successful owner of a shop frequented by the WBHH students.
***The real BEST news would be hopping in a time machine and getting Brandon Walsh from the pilot. He was seriously hot with that mullet. I am not joking. (But I am ashamed.)
Quick Question
If you had to decide between being the bride of Lucifer or the bride of an intergalactic villain, which would you choose?
You know how I love to travel, so it should come as no surprise that I would probably choose the intergalactic villain. However, my concern with this is that Lucifer would be totally ripped and gorgeous. Tough choice. What is sexier, magic or crime? Both have the potential to be very lame. Is the intergalactic villain a suave, Cary Grant kinda guy? Did hell freeze over or is it hott down there? You know I hate cold weather. Is space really cold? Which one would let me dress them? Who is a talker? Who could do me good and dirty?
These are my main concerns.
