Second Childhood

I was put back in the Alzheimer Care Unit again, yesterday. There is one resident who uses what I believe is called a geri-chair (correct me if I'm wrong). It is a chair with a seat at one end and space for the person to move around inside. It has casters on the bottom and looks like a pvc cage. It has a broad base to prevent falling as it is used for folks who are fall risks. Basically, the chair allows folks who are fall risks to move around with limited supervision so CNA's and nurses and such can have time to care for the rest of the folks.

The fella using this chair had a tendency to get in the way of things. So, on about four occasions I made a deal with the fella. If he would sit in the seat, I would push him up and down the hallway once.

The first time he said, "It's a little cold in here, and kinda windy, too," or something to that extent. I asked if I was going too fast, and he said no. So we did this about four times throughout the day. I would have done it more, but there are other folks to take care of.

This brought up childhood memories of a friend of my father who had a son. This kid was a few years younger than me and he had some of the coolest toys, like this pedal car that was really fun. I used to push him up and down thier little culdesac. It was so much fun. When he would come over to our house, he would find something with wheels he could sit on and I would push him around. What a blast!

There was also a woman who loved everyone, grabbing hands of CNA's and nurses and kissing them. Another woman at lunch just loved and enjoyed the food. I was also called a "sheik." That was funny.