“What gives me hope, is the fact that when Marcia moved here, immediately people surrounded her and bonded with her,” reminisces Garry, the husband of a memory care resident at Villa at Terracina in Naples, Florida. “When I actually went to leave, she didn’t say ‘Take me with you, where are you going?’ and that made me feel very good.”
No Longer Having to Say “No”
“When someone is at home and you are trying to take care of them, you have to say no a lot,” says Garry. “Here, no one is saying no. I just see that she is much more calm and relaxed.”
Marcia has always had a very active lifestyle. At Villa, the building is constructed with a circular design to allow residents like Marcia, who like to walk, the freedom to do so. “If she wants to walk around here, all day long, all night long, she can do it.”
Friendship in Memory Care
While Marcia is no longer able to communicate very well, she has developed a friendship with another memory care resident at the community who also enjoys walking. Garry laughs about the fact that he has been replaced, but says that he feels great about it at the same time.
“When I was here for dinner, her friend walked by and she wanted to go walk with her rather than be with me at the end of dinner,” says Garry. He is comforted that she is not clinging to him asking to be taken home.
