Elder Care Valentine Surprise
About twenty years ago I got an unusual request from my mother.
My great-aunt was in a nursing home and they were having a Valentine's Day contest.
They each had a manilla envelope taped to their doorways for people to put Valentine cards in.
She wanted our two young daughters to send her some.
They did and while I don't know who won I do know my great-aunt got a lot of them.
Now that our elder is in a memory care unit she is among those who might not get anything for this day.
Well, until I told the director of her unit the above story.
We did this last year and will probably do it again this year.
Here is what we did.
Making Envelopes: About eight of the people are high functioning enough to decorate their own envelopes under supervision.
We combed the various dollar stores for decorations, sparkling pens and so forth.
For those who couldn't make their own, we made them one ourselves.
Getting Cards: All of the staff made cards and to my surprise many of the families participated.
Our daughters and their children also participated.
The cards were sent to me and I put them in the envelopes.
You don't have to go to a lot of trouble in this area, though it is nice when there is.
Even the kind of cards we gave each other in grade school will work.
If you can't bring them, you can either send them care of the facility or if you have a relative close by like we do, you can send them to that person.
On the Day: For some of the residents it was almost like Christmas.
A few people had included treats like chocolate or popcorn to go with the cards.
After they opened their envelopes we had a poetry reading.
All of the residents liked that, including one that surprised me.
We have a veteran there who has PTSD along with other problems.
He doesn't speak much and this is the only time I have ever seen him participate or even smile.
He *loved* the poetry.
It doesn't take much to make these little holidays special again for our elders.
If you can't set up the program yourself, talk to the director and find out if its feasible.
Just having the idea may be enough to get it going for your elder.
My great-aunt was in a nursing home and they were having a Valentine's Day contest.
They each had a manilla envelope taped to their doorways for people to put Valentine cards in.
She wanted our two young daughters to send her some.
They did and while I don't know who won I do know my great-aunt got a lot of them.
Now that our elder is in a memory care unit she is among those who might not get anything for this day.
Well, until I told the director of her unit the above story.
We did this last year and will probably do it again this year.
Here is what we did.
Making Envelopes: About eight of the people are high functioning enough to decorate their own envelopes under supervision.
We combed the various dollar stores for decorations, sparkling pens and so forth.
For those who couldn't make their own, we made them one ourselves.
Getting Cards: All of the staff made cards and to my surprise many of the families participated.
Our daughters and their children also participated.
The cards were sent to me and I put them in the envelopes.
You don't have to go to a lot of trouble in this area, though it is nice when there is.
Even the kind of cards we gave each other in grade school will work.
If you can't bring them, you can either send them care of the facility or if you have a relative close by like we do, you can send them to that person.
On the Day: For some of the residents it was almost like Christmas.
A few people had included treats like chocolate or popcorn to go with the cards.
After they opened their envelopes we had a poetry reading.
All of the residents liked that, including one that surprised me.
We have a veteran there who has PTSD along with other problems.
He doesn't speak much and this is the only time I have ever seen him participate or even smile.
He *loved* the poetry.
It doesn't take much to make these little holidays special again for our elders.
If you can't set up the program yourself, talk to the director and find out if its feasible.
Just having the idea may be enough to get it going for your elder.
Source...