Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mother's Day In A Senior's Home



For Mother's Day, Linda and I spent Saturday afternoon at her 90 year old mother's Extendacare Residence. My daughter Kathy and her family (including her new baby Haley) joined us. The picture above is of the four generations of women in our family who were there that day.

The Home had special entertainment for the afternoon. A folk singer led the residents in a Tribute to Mothers and then launched into the standard music we have come to expect from so many visits to Homes for the Aged recently, the greatest hits from World War II.

We were joking afterward that there will soon have to be a revolution in the care for the aged as we boomers come on stream. We will demand rock groups, not old guys with pianos. Images of KISS tribute bands playing before an ocean of balding heads and shrunken bodies, flicker through our troubled minds.

They will have to get wireless technology installed cause we will all be on computers. According to a new book, ibrain, by Dr. Garry Small, the very structure of our brains has been changed by the technology we are using. Right now I doubt there is even one resident with a computer in her Mother's building. The Homes will have to get ready for gamers instead of bingo.

Ah yes things will have to change we thought.

Then we got on the elevator to leave and I saw a notice for wii bowling classes that were starting in the summer.

Wii technology has come to seniors homes already!

I guess by the time it's our turn, they will be ready for us.

I hope all the Mothers out there have a great day today and your "significant others" do all the dishes.