Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers on my post about my Mom. It makes traveling the journey easier knowing there are those who are walking the path with you, whether through your own personal experience or just knowing you are saying a prayer.
I had a phone call from one of those who picks up Mom to take her to church on Wednesday. Last week they played games - I think it was some form of dominoes. Several have told me two years ago, she could play, last week she was confused on what she she do while playing the game. Several of them helped her figure it out and get through the game.
A suggestion was made that Mom's handicapped sticker stay in her purse so wherever she goes, the driver can use it. What a great idea!!! Should have thought of it - makes it easier for all.
Now...what are places thinking when they put the handicapped parking so far away that it is inconvenient for the person needing the most convenience? What is with that?? Our local Colonel Sanders place makes it inconvenient. the Mexican restaurant next to Home Depot makes it inconvenient as it is halfway down the parking lot. Why make a person who has difficulty walking have to walk further than a person fully capable? Makes no sense to me.
What about doors so heavy that the elderly cannot manage opening them by themselves? Doorknobs that are difficult to use because of arthritis, which I am painfully becoming aware of personally because of my onset of arthritis. I can only imagine how it is for those who do not have the strength to manage it with either hand.
I am curious what obstacles you may see for those who are aging and make it difficult to be independent?
Urban sprawl - even in the small towns that requires people to drive so much.
ReplyDeleteBig Box Stores - you might as well set out to walk around a track 20 times as to go find a light bulb at Home Depot!
Seems to me a small street of shops with Hardware Store, cafe, bookstore and so on, that a person could manage long into their Golden Years would be so much more thoughtful.
Walking from shop to shop, with a stop in between to sit on a bench and talk to a friend, or just people watch.
I also think the complications of the electronic age with Universal Remotes and multiple components are very confusing. No more just "turning on the TV" now it's super complicated.
(But I don't know if that's necessarily a problem for the aged as much as just for me!)
A few years ago, my family went on a vacation. My nephew uses a wheelchair so a handicapped accessible hotel is always mandatory. When we got there (and the hotel was chosen because they advertised their accessibility), we found that only the front door had a curb cut for wheelchairs. The first floor rooms, which were accessible only from the outside, were on a walkway six inches higher than the parking lot with no ramps or curb cuts. We had to get the hotel staff to help us carry my nephew in his chair over that barrier . (The hotel called itself accessible because there were rails in the showers.)
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