My Best Xmas Story or tales of my senior citizens

Parent Cafe
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<p>As I have mentioned MANY times on this board, I am the person primarily responsible for five senior citizens and I have to say, they provide me with a lot of funny stories. </p>

<p>My father’s health has declined greatly these past three years. Last year when he was in skilled nursing, my brother and I used that time to convince him to sell his car. Since then he has endured several infections, numerous falls, two brain bleeds and a serious UTI. Right now he is in skilled nursing, generally slumped to the side when not in PT and looking very old and fragile.</p>

<p>For as long as I can remember, Gladys a longtime friend of my father, has given him an annual membership to AAA for xmas. She is a very generous, well-intentioned woman who also happens to be fussy, opinionated, and quite sure of herself. She is very blunt with others, but is easily hurt herself.</p>

<p>This year, once again she gave Dad his Triple A membership. As she sat next to him in his wheelchair she explained, " I asked them at the Triple A office and they said it was okay that you didn’t have a car, you could use it for the discounts, like train tickets."</p>

<p>Yeah, like he is going on the train anytime soon.</p>

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<p>Ahhh, that’s sweet. I visit a friend in a nursing home. Because of her dementia, I hear all kinds of amazing stories. She is always “traveling” someplace. One time, when they brought her a lunch while I was visiting, she said, “Waitress! Bring her a lunch, too.”</p>

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<p>I work at a senior center. One of my favorite stories this Christmas is about the 93 y/o retired librarian, still completely independent (lives alone, drives everywhere, sharper than most of the boomers I know), who was at our center for a holiday luncheon. Later that day, another staff member ran into her at the mall at the present-wrapping stand - where this senior was wrapping presents to raise money for one of her favorite charities. I have no doubt that she went home to change her outfit and then out for an evening performance downtown or someone’s holiday open house.</p>