ALF Resident Prefers Not to Stay Home - The Thin Edge of Dignity

When I lived in my home, rather than a home, I often left home. You know.  Shopping.  Movies. Dining out.  Things that got me out of the house for periods of time.

But in a home – my Assisted Living Facility (ALF) – I better stay home.

When I’m away, I miss activities and events – some are miss-able, others are important. For example, I would have liked to attend the initial food meeting, specially arranged to discuss the creation of the menu, and resident’s nutritional needs.  It was the first meeting… and the last. Not enough attendees (Apparently, I wasn’t the only absentee.)

Then there are the monthly meetings of the Resident’s Council. That’s important for residents to comment on living conditions.

These types of activities concern my living as a ALF resident. They affect my life.

For other life affecting -activities I have to leave “home.”

I eschew Bingo and embrace the Academy for Long Term Living (ALL), a volunteer organization, dedicated to continuing the education of elders. I abstain from Yahtzee and help 3 ^rd graders read and write, and motivate 7 ^th graders by creating innovative projects.

Volunteering in the public schools not only enriches me, but it is a way I can contribute to the general welfare. Another “getting and giving” activity is my participation in the local community theater. I’m a member of the Reader’s Theater Company. Rehearsing and performing replace evening board games or a travelogue.

To me an ALF activity should enrich a resident’s life, should lead to discovery, and repay society with the skills and wisdom we have experienced and accrued in our life time.

An activity requires action in life, not passing time till death.

Thus, my action is out in the world, not in my ALF.

I don’t stay home.

Dick Weinman is an AARP volunteer and an ALF guru