A Well Rounded Charlie

As Charlie's mother, I try to expose him to a wide variety of people, places and things. One of them includes going to the local retirement center. The Farmington Area Mom's Club does holiday activities at the American House about once a month. We have gone trick or treating, given goodies for Thanksgiving, gone to dance and visit and then today we went for Christmas.

Some of the residents remember Charlie. One woman today asked if he was there for Halloween and if he had a cape on. Yup, he was a vampire. A couple other women remember Charlie and myself and I think look forward to his visits. One older woman who I found out today had a bunch of children- all boys- enjoys watching Charlie because she just wonders were I get the energy to chase him! He loves to run around the center. In fact I chased him up the ramp to the rooms and then he dodged into someone's room and I had to catch him in there!

There is a man that I have found sitting in the same chair every time I've been there. I don't know his name but he is the first I go and say hi to. Today he seemed pretty good but last time we were there he was having a bad day and didn't even want to talk to me. He didn't remember Charlie and I and told me he didn't sleep the night before. I know that he lived in Farmington his whole life and that his family picks him up for lunch. He loves the burritos at the restaurant which he couldn't remember the name. This man tells me that he sits in that same chair everyday because it's his job to open the doors for lunch. You can tell that he looks forward to his job. I see my late grandpa, Elmer in him. He seems so kind and loving and you can just see in his eyes that he was a strong man when he was younger. I don't look forward to the visit there that he's not sitting in his chair. :-(

It's awesome that something so small as a visit with the residents puts a smile on my face and I'm sure their face too. I hope that Charlie appreciates that we do this someday. I would love for him to be understanding, thoughtful and respectful of everyone he meets. As his mother I feel like my job is to open up the doors for his heart to settle in.