For those that are interested- an update on my mother, Sarah ( Sah) Maguire. 92 years young. :)

Update on Sah!

Been a while since we last spoke folks - so just an update on my mother as she moves into week three at the Carleton Lodge. Quick story first. You know me lol.

The current Carleton Lodge is a 'newer' version of the former building. It opened in 1989 literally a couple of hundred yards - if that - from where the original was. One of the administrators for years was the late Vince Daly. Vince moved to Manotick in 1959, twenty years after he brought a ball team to come play against the village locals for the first time. He fell in love with the 'Tick and later moved into the village. His house still stands on Tighe street.

He later ran or organized or was part of nearly everything athletic in the village and if you were a young boy who played sports from the 692 you were going to cross paths with him. He and his fantastic wife Mary raised an excellent family, one of whom we lost years ago, the late JT ( John Thomas) Daly. Just a prince of a man and a dear friend to many including yours truly. .

One night years ago Vince popped into the Legion looking for a couple of young lads to paint the boiler room in that old building. Nobody could say no to Vince. Pete Bisdee and I agreed to do it - it was a paid endeavour - we both were doing other things as well but hey, Vince Daly needed a hand, you lent a hand. Anyway, funny to think of that now all these years later with my mother, a resident at the Carleton Lodge - even though it's the new building. .

The staff are excellent. The building still looks great for 34 years old. It's clean, there are a ton of activities, there's lots to like about the place but it's been a very, very tough transition for my mother. She's not there voluntarily. She is very aware of her surroundings which is substantially different from the majority of residents and it's not a day-to-day life she's totally embraced at the moment.

And of course....the ever present gov't rules..... I won't go into what some of them are but for her ( and me) it's been an adjustment. Still, given the situation on the home front this is the best - and safest place to be for now.

Her health is good. Her vitals which are checked weekly continue to be strong. Her sleep has been 'okay'. Some nights there's quite a racket coming from some of the other rooms and God bless the night staff, they do an excellent job trying to help everybody but the doors stay open- so sometimes it's tough for Sah to get to sleep.

We're dealing with a couple of minor issues but I'm not here to complain about the Lodge. We feel fortunate that she was accepted in the time frame she was- I visit her every day, sometimes twice and as I said, for the most part, it's gone okay.

Thing is because she's aware of where she is, she expresses -at times - a desire to be with family and she's frustrated that can't be the case. Some nights her age (92 and 1/3yrs old) shows and there is some significant confusion. Other days, most in fact and I can say this cause I'm in every day- she is fairly lucid still.

We had a fun day today. Our plan is to get her out for some day trips to both my place in Osgoode and Mike's in Kars. I am going to try and do this every Monday or Tuesday, maybe the odd Thursday. Mike will try for Saturday's. I took her out today at 10am. Brought her back at 430pm. She saw Sean, her cat, she could drink as much wine as she liked, she sat on her couch, it was a really, really good stretch of hours. Our hope - Mike's and mine- is these little visits will alleviate some of the stress she's feeling not being home and around family full time....... It's tough......it's so tough. What can I say, I just don't have the resources or support to do anything different so here we are.

There are a ton of local connections. Maggie Kelly and Janet Murray work there. I've known them both 50+ years. Maggie and I were in school together grades 2-13. Sylvia Hutt works there. I had not seen her since 1987 when the Manotick Tea Room closed- she used to work there. It was amazing to run into her again.

Donna Tierney ( Watters) is in a room right across the hall from my mother. One of her brother's was the late Wayne Watters who I worked for 40+ years ago which was my introduction to the Watters family - that I'm forever grateful for.

Lesley Anderson's father recently became a resident. Lesley is another friend from 40+ years ago.....There are others.

There's been some others I've gotten to know. Leyda at night; fantastic. Gary at night - former bouncer/bartender at the British Hotel - has definitely become a huge favourite of mine. Ronya, another one, outstanding lady.....many others. I met Evelyn tonight who is an RN, former PSW going back to 1968, worked in this current lodge since its inception and knew Vince Daly well. 19 days in and my fifteen minute conversation with her was the best one I've had there yet. She is one sharp cookie and was really on point to talk to. I sure did appreciate it.

You've got to be a special person to do this job - I know - cause I truly feel I could do it for anybody after taking care of my mother for as long as I did......

So here we are. Things are okay.......Things are good......We'll see if these little forays home will help her. If there was one major negative for me and this is all on me- the extra time I'm supposed to now have at home I have not been using or certainly I have not properly managed it. I dunno folks; for the life of me, and I know maybe this is just me - but how can you not want to go see a parent that's still alive? Every day? My emotions are still very raw....anyway, I've rambled enough..... Onward we go..

This pic is courtesy of the woman who is no question my mother's best friend at the moment. Daisy Langdon. Daisy lives in Riverside South so she's been making the walk across the bridge to the Lodge and comes to visit Sah. Thanks for doing that Daisy....

I'll have another update at the end of this month folks. Thank you for your notes and continued support and interest in Sah....I pass on everything to her especially from all that comment on here that know her. Thank you. God bless, be well.... gidday.

Liam