Today I’m deeply grateful for Jillynne, the carer who spends four hours a day with my sister. When I visited her in February, it was clear that Penny’s Alzheimer’s had advanced since September, 2022, when I was last there. She became anxious whenever I enticed her out of the assisted living facility; even walking her dog made her uneasy. Her attention wandered and she wasn’t getting a lot of exercise—but I didn’t want her walking outside without someone with her, because she seemed unsteady.
I was also concerned that the burden of making
medical decisions was becoming too heavy for the two elderly women who hold the
medical power-of-attorney.
My other sister and I had a long conversation
with the fiduciary, who looks after Penny’s finances. She engaged extra helpers
to spend time with Penny, and absolutely struck gold with Jillynne.
She helps Penny call us, and often acts as
interpreter, because telephonic communication with her is fraught. She encourages
Penny to engage in activities and sends us videos and photos. (I don’t know
which I like best: the video of her working on a water color painting or the
photo of her in front of a plate of steak-frites.) Yesterday it was a visit to
a fish hatchery—which produces 750K hatchlings per year (but does not have an
on-site restaurant).
Jillynne gets Penny out, active, engaged, so
that her world has become larger than her room and the facility’s dining room. She
jokes with Penny and gets her laughing. She connects her to us. This is an
amazing gift.
I am so grateful to see this change in my
sister and I am deeply grateful to the woman who’s effected it.
Jillynne—you rock!
©2024 Bas Bleu
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