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My father-in-law, Jim, moved to an independent senior living emporium in our town in the summer of 2019. It was an adventure to encourage him to sell his house, distribute his extra furniture, and then help him make the transition to apartment living.
Every few Sundays, we would visit Poppa Jim (that's what the grandkids call him) to help with bills. We'd either take him out for Italian food or join him for dinner at their in-house "swanky" restaurant (read: cloth tablecloths and nice entrees).
This was all good until March 2020 when the whole senior village shut down to visitors. The in-house restaurants closed. They turned on a dime and offered room-service delivery to their hundreds of residents. We were so thankful that Jim could remain safe in his apartment and not be worried about meals or navigating the grocery stores when the pandemic started.
Jim wasn't as thrilled (as you can imagine) about sheltering in place. As the weather warmed up and our state moved to less restrictions, Jim started to visit our house for Sunday dinner. We ate outside and kept our distance. Sunday dinners have continued through the fall and winter (doing our best to keep everyone safe), and it's a weekly check in to make sure he's doing well and getting some interaction.
This week Jim enjoyed some putting practice to reduce some of his stress about filing income taxes (we did them) and other financial questions. We hope he continues to enjoy the weekly dinners for years to come.
Hope your family enjoys the weekly dinners for a long time to come. Love the photo.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad your father-in-law can come to your house, I'm sure he really looks forward to those times! My mom was in a similar situation. Except we weren't allowed to bring her to our homes, unless she wanted to quarantine for 14 days.They finally lifted the restrictions March 1st and she is so, so, happy to be free!
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