Settling In

I spent the weekend getting my Grandpa's stuff moved in and set up in his new room at the assisted living community. I was very nervous because the decision was made on this particular facility by him and my mother, on my recommendation alone. They were both in Florida and I went and toured the facilities. I thought this one would be the best; I liked the staff and thought the room was pretty large and the outdoor area was really nice.

Mom packed up all his stuff, loaded it on a truck and Smug-Sister and I (along with our babies and husbands) put his room together. We unpacked everything, put together and made his bed, put pictures on the walls, everything. We wanted him to get off the plane and come right to his room with his familiar items and feel at home as much as possible.

I had this overwhelming fear that he would hate it, or that mom would look at me and ask how I could possibly think that this was a suitable place for him to live. I was scared that he would hate the set up or mom would be upset about the way we had unpacked things. This was such a huge move for him; life changing in a major way! This will probably be his last home and what if he hated it!?!?!

When they arrived, I watched their faces nervously as they looked around. Grandpa exclaimed about seeing his high school diploma on the wall and oh look there is the picture of the plane I flew on in WWII. He said a couple of times that he really loved the way the room was set up. Mom also seemed pleased and told me that I had made a good choice and she loved the view from his room and they way everything was set up.

He did not care much for his dinner, he said that their wasn't much of it and it was bland, but the director told him that she would make note that he needed a larger portion tomorrow. He did not care for the gentlemen he sat with at dinner and the director said that after meeting him, there were some ladies she wanted to introduce him to and would move his table assignment tomorrow. He said that he tried to talk to a nurse (who was just moving around the facility, not the nurse assigned to him) about his medications and she said that she didn't know anything about his pills. The director told him that she had all his medications and would speak to his specific nurse to make sure that he got everything he needed.

I was glad that they spoke to him like a person and not like a fuddy duddy old man and answered his questions and addressed his concerns. He is funny because he must not see himself as an old guy, he made a couple of comments about how everyone in the facility was old and had white hair (he has gray/white hair too) and also how he wished the women were younger as the ones he'd met were too old for him.

It was an exhausting weekend and hard day but everything turned out good. Once I relaxed a bit knowing he liked everything, I felt like I hit a wall and was almost too tired to get ready for bed!