Till Death Do Us Part... Revisited

For older adults living with cognitive and health related concerns, the Geneva Foundation offers Great Opportunities Adult Day Services. Serving as a respite for family caretakers, Great Opportunities is a haven for loved ones living with cognitive, physical or behavioral conditions, who need specialized and chaperoned care. A variety of services, activities, and therapies are offered to encourage mobility, community, and independence. All of which are administered by trained staff and professionals, in a loving, safe, supportive and compassionate environment.

I often think about how different my grandparents’ lives might be had they a Great Opportunities near their home in NY…

On February 4, 2010, my grandparents celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary. Sixty-one years ago, dressed in a hand-me-down gown and a rented suit, they stood before family, friends, and church to commit their lives to one another. “For richer, for poorer. For better, for worse. In sickness and in health. Till death do us part.” A promise lived and kept throughout their married life.

Two years ago, shortly after their 59th wedding anniversary, my grandmother fell during a brief period of time home alone and broken a hip. With Alzheimer’s advancing, she was uncertain what had happened. All she was able to remember when family returned from the store was that she “somehow ended up on the floor”. This began a 3 month stay in a rehab center for treatment and therapy.

Shortly before her discharge, my grandfather was presented with a terribly difficult decision: locate a facility that specializes in Alzheimer’s care, or provide for all medical services associated with her care at home---care not covered by my grandfather’s insurance provider; care that would necessitate the presence of skilled nursing personnel 15 hours a day.

During the course of a ten-minute conversation and a stack of brochures and paperwork, my grandfather’s life changed forever.

The choice my grandfather had to make centered around two issues: arranging the best care for my grandmother and the financial ability to afford that care. To pay for the number of home-health providers needed to care appropriately for my grandmother would drain what meager, but hard earned retirement funds had accrued over the years in much less time than it took to accumulate. After a long and difficult process, my grandfather had no choice but to place my grandmother in a Medicaid accepting nursing home.

I say all that to say this: as I reflect on the strenuous and emotional rollercoaster ride that has forced itself upon my family the past few years, I am thankful for the work of the Geneva Foundation---and I am grateful for the peace of mind provided by Great Opportunities Adult Day Service program.

I am thankful for what a place like Great Opportunities means to older adults in the Chicago area who are just like my grandma and grandpa: people who worked hard all their lives, lived within their means, scrimped, saved, passed along family traditions and raised families. Men and women who planned for retirement only to find you can never fully plan for the unintended surprises life drops in your lap—like Alzheimer’s or rising healthcare costs in spite of static monthly Social Security checks.

As I come back to the thought of how different my grandparents’ lives might be had they a Great Opportunities near their home in NY, the questions that come to mind include, like the residents of G.O., would my grandma thrive in a setting that offered personalized one-on-one care? Would my family still be able to gather at the home to which we’ve gathered for every holiday I can remember since birth? Would my grandma continue to spend every evening in the place she had lived for over 40 years? Would the house that feels so empty and lonely now to my grandpa still be the place they share and call home, together? For those who benefit from services provided by Great Opportunities, the answer is a grateful, “yes.”

~ Susan