Doris Moves To Chartwell

Having worked the morning with Adam, Theresa and Glenda moving Doris to her new home I arrived home to a house with an empty bedroom. As I entered my home and looked down the hallway I could not help but notice the quiet, completely empty bedroom at the head of the stairs. It was not a good feeling but a lonely one.

We had removed all of Doris' furnishings and placed them in her new home at Chartwell. This independent living lodge is beautiful in every sense and her personal living space is just right for an elderly person who is capable of taking care of herself. The best thing is that the lodge is close by in our town and not miles away so visitations are convenient and home visits for special events easy to manage.

Doris will be turning 95 in a month and can no longer travel with us to Florida for the winter. She will however  fly to New Brunswick to visit her friends and relatives next week and drive back with us on our return from N.S. in a few weeks.

Our home will not be the same without Doris as she has been the third member of our family for over thirteen years, During these years she has been a constant traveller  and adventurer and never showed her age. No trip was too long or drive too far for Doris and she never slept a wink on any of our travels in the van. I wondered if it was to make sure I was always awake or just her love of seeing new things.

Doris was easy to live with as she had a great appetite and loved everything which contained sugar.She was a great contributor to the household chores and loved to hang out clothes, do dishes and help with the preserving. I will miss her and her morning greeting every morning at exactly 8.30 am. She was our weatherman and read the  the morning paper every day. I thought she was interested in sports as she always had that section in her hands when she first opened the Star. Actually it was because the weather was on on the back page of the sport news.

Doris will establish friendships with people of her own age although there are not many her age there at Chartwell and share memories she has gathered over her years of a happy, eventful and rich life. Our family will include Doris at every opportunity and she will still be the great grandmother to her many family member and a vital link in the strong chain of our family fabric. I have every reason to believe her life will be even richer in her new surroundings once she gets established.