First Visit

I dropped him off at 11am. They were getting ready to do their morning exercises, and they walked him over to that area of the yard. He doesn’t like exercises, so I was really concerned about that being his very first activity. I was counting on this day to be a positive experience for him so that he would want to go back on moving day.  When I picked Gabi up at 4pm, he was walking out of the second floor door with a nurse and asking the nurse what day it was, and counting the days until moving day. With a smile!  And when we left, he kissed the coordinator, Griselda, on the cheek (a very common custom in Mexico) and thanked her. In the car, I asked if he liked it. He said, “I loved it! Griselda, the coordinator, told me that after the exercises he ate melon with them, had some fruit juice, and then they gave him something to color. He sat and colored for a while until he started nodding off, and then asked if he could go lie down. Of course he could!  He took his nap, a short one for him, just over an hour. Then it was time for lunch.  As we were eating today at home I asked him, pointing at the photo of the nursing home, if he liked eating there.  He said “mmmm, it was really good.” The strategy worked. He wants to go back on Monday, and stay!  Cearly, this will contribute to his qualify of life. Thank you for your help to make this experience possible!