The Answer Is?

Where I live, there are 82 apartments. We actually reside on the ground that was once my old Freshman High. In fact, I am going to my 45th class reunion August 19th, which is coming up fairly soon.

When you have a building this size, with 82 different personalities, along with Senior Citizens and Disabled adults, the management can have their hands full. Seniors try as hard as anyone else to clean-up after themselves, remember all appointments, and love to gather around and talk.

We have one room on the main floor that is called the Community room. This is where we are supposed to gather for cards, social gatherings etc. I have resided here for six months now and the room has been opened less times than fingers on my one hand.

There has been bickering, gossiping and complaining to anyone who will hear. We are allowed to have the community room open from 8am to 5pm Mon-Fri. There is a coffee time in the mornings, along with lunch, or maybe a volunteer will come in and we have the opportunity to exercise or play games.

The problem is that when you are older, sleep is less at night, more through the day. There are doctor appointments of all kind. There is always concerns about where to go to get food, so the days are pretty well filled up.

When 5pm comes and goes, all goes quiet. People fix their supper and then there is nothing to do. For the first week I lived here, the Community room was open 24/7. People, including myself want to be able to return to this room, to socialize, play cards. I know I enjoyed playing the piano.

The manager finally responded and said that there were a few times that the room was left a little untidy. There was a time that leftover food had remained in the refrigerator too long.

I can understand their concerns, but I also understand we are talking about a special type of people, seniors and disabled adults. We all try hard, I believe, to keep everything in tact, but the emotional concerns is what is bothering me, including myself.

We spend a lot of time alone as Seniors. It gets old, and we can get depressed and lonely when we have nothing to in the  evenings. I don’t know how to fix the problem. I know it has been a hot conversation for months.

I suggested a team of clean-up people for all activities, but don’t know how that is going to be handled. I just know that we don’t have much  money for driving our cars, for those of us who still drive, and we need the group support of our neighbors within this building, to help us survive each day. We don’t go to  movies, or to bars, or sightseeing because of lack of funds.

I feel sorry for those who are in wheelchairs and can do less than me. My heart breaks at the sad faces. It bothers me because I feel so helpless when I hear words, “I’m so bored. I can’t wait until I die.”

I wish I knew how to fix this. God bless our Senior Citizens, my neighbors here in Warsaw, Indiana. I will try as hard as I can to get our lives back on track for our own sanity and peace of mind.

There is no better medicine than a genuine smile and a good belly laugh.