Revisiting America

Thursday night Nicole and I visited the Pioneer Home for the Thursday night Family and Friends dinner. It was an opportunity for me to meet James' mother, Nicole's mother-in-law, Jane Church, a resident there for the last year and a half. She's a beautiful lady, in her early nineties, and very aware and able to talk about everything.
The home was beautifully decorated with Halloween things, if you can say Halloween stuff is beautiful, and the five-course meal was great, thanks to the new food director, a nice lady from Georgia, we sounded the same. An appetizer, soup, salad, entree, and dessert, and all tables were waited on, your water glass never got below half-full, by Boy Scouts from one of the local troops. They were so young, efficient, handsome in their uniforms, polite and I'm sure participating to help earn one of their badges. Regardless, they did a great job, probably something most of them had never done before.
The entertainment was by Dave Rubin and band, and I'm beginning to see that they are such an important part of the community because they play at so many events. (I did go by The Point yesterday while they were there playing and Dave and I swapped tapes, his mostly featuring him and some of his songs and mine, the one that Regina and I had done at the concert.) So, I will leave a little bit of me in Ketchikan).
The Pioneer Homes are like our Nursing Homes, this one right on the main street making it so convenient for family and friends to visit. The average age for the residents is "86 years young", Jane being is her early nineties.
Another feature of this home is they are registered as an Eden home which has the philosophy that family, friends, pets, and plants all contribute to creating a "human habitat" by revitalizing relationships and encouraging residents to be involved with activities that help alleviate loneliness, helplessness and boredom.
Also, the Home provides a respite care program which provides 24-hour care for up to two weeks for individuals in the community who need short-term assistance for a scheduled period of time.
Another focus is the enlistment of volunteers and there were many there that night.
It was a very enjoyable evening, and just another part of life in Ketchikan.