Bright Side Manor
Starting out in 1990, Davis took over a then very small and somewhat dingy nursing home. While her intentions were good, there was little to work with, As a matter of fact, she had to continue working in a hospital just to maintain her family while attending Bright Side on her days off. The facility was struggling and budgets were deficit loaded. Volunteers were even more difficult and this persuasive woman managed to get RSVP to help, then AARP and other local organizations like Rotary to participate. Today, Bright Side is a 65 bed facility!
When asked what these volunteers do, the glowing response was “Everything.†An assisted living facility, the senior group of residents often have what is referred to as ‘Senior Moments’. The volunteers have to help residents with these memory problems while making them feel good about themselves. Some of the cathartic endeavors are pet therapy; volunteers bring their pets to the facility, a bird in residence as well as an attractive lighted fish tank.
My friend, former neighbor and now a Bright Side resident is often encouraged by Mazzo to play the piano for the group. Music has its calming effect and residents can be seen humming and joining in on the lyrics.
One of my favorite volunteers comes from two blocks away as often as she can. Suffering from MS, Anne (Anny) utilizes a motorized wheelchair to navigate the distance without letting the elements deter her. In the recent cold snap, she claimed to look like a red apple after arriving to help cheer up the residents.
Some of the volunteers who received certificates from Director Davis are:
Emma Fernandez, Rosemary Collins (AARP), Mary Hirschman, Maryann Burton (pet therapy), Sara Burke, Judi Esola (pet therapy) Mary Guarino, Cindy D’Amico (food drives & bingo prizes), Marge McLaughlin (food drive), Ceil Murray (food drive & monetary), Anne Factor ( visitor for the residents), Connie Garcia (Congregation Beth AM – church), Justin Mann (high school student who tells stories and jokes) Walter Lynch (church), Michael Fitzgerald (church) and Carol Hamilton (family member volunteer).
To understand what volunteers and staff have to contend with, please read the following which has been garnered from the Internet:
Crabby Old Man
When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Tampa, Florida, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.
Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.
One nurse took her copy to Missouri . The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the St. Louis Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.
And this little old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this "anonymous" poem winging across the Internet.
Crabby Old Man
What do you see nurses? ........What do you see?
What are you thinking......when you're looking at me?
A crabby old man, .....not very wise,
Uncertain of habit ........with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food.......and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice....."I do wish you'd try!"
Who seems not to notice .....the things that you do.
And forever is losing ............... a sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not...........lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding ....... the long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking? Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse......you're not looking at me.
I'll tell you who I am ....... as I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, ........as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten......with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .......who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen ...........with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now. ..........a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty ..........my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows........that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now .......... I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide ........ and a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty .......... my young now grown fast,
Bound to each other ......... with ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons ........have grown and are gone,
But my woman's beside me........to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .......... babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children ......... my loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me .......... my wife is now dead.
I look at the future .............I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing ........young of their own.
And I think of the years...... and the love that I've known.
I'm now an old man.........and nature is cruel.
Tis jest to make old age .......look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles..........grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone........where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass ...... a young guy still dwells,
And now and again .........my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys.............. I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living.............life over again.
I think of the years .....all too few......gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact.......that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people ..........open and see..
Not a crabby old man. Look closer....see........ME!!
Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you
might brush aside without looking at the young soul within.....we will all, one day, be there, too!
PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM
Please give some of your time to the residents at Bright Side Manor. You will feel much better about yourself.
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