The Assisted Living home where my mother lives refers to their Memory Care floor as “Reminiscence”.  This a much more gentle label, in my opinion.  “Memory Care” suggests requiring aid due to a deficit or a loss, which may have a negative connotation, but “Reminiscence” suggests recollections of events, significant people or times from the past, which sounds more positive.

While the first two floors of the building are for Assisted Living, the third floor is Reminiscence. It is separate due to the need for safety and protection of the fragile men and women residents who could easily walk out the front door of their home and get lost.

Corridors throughout the facility are not long, stark hallways.  Instead, they are carpeted, and meander in different directions to cluster around common gathering areas.  Beautiful artwork of country scenes, children playing, or objects from bygone days hang on the walls between rooms.  The subjects in the artwork depict things familiar to the people walking past them as they carry out daily activities. Doors for the resident’s rooms or apartments are often decorated with wreaths that reflect the time of year.  In many rooms multi-pane windows, dressed with curtains or privacy shades, provide the occupant with a glimpse into the hallway while keeping their door closed for privacy.  Common areas on each floor have comfortable upholstered couches and chairs positioned as you would find in a living room at home.  Tables with armchairs are available for crafts, puzzles, or manicures.  A fireplace with gas logs glows warmly in each living room, and the large screen TV is almost always on playing old movies, the news, or reruns of shows such as Bonanza and I Love Lucy.

Beautifully outfitted dining rooms are spaced throughout the facility, positioned so they are convenient for the staff to manage small groups of residents.  A very large dining area is located on the first floor, and visitors are welcomed to join their loved ones for meals.  Tables are set with colored cloths and cloth napkins, and a small vase of fresh flowers assembled by the Floral Arranging Club can be found in the middle of each one. Menu folders like those in fine restaurants are at each place so every resident can make their own meal choice from the ever changing selection.

All of these furnishings and personal touches that most of us enjoy in our homes are found in Mom’s home.  Well, all but one……but that changed two days after Christmas.

Dad and I went to see Mom last Saturday.  There is a large button to the right of the door to press before you reach the entrance to the building where she lives.  This activates two automatic doors to open wide.  They stay open long enough for someone who uses a walker and shuffles along slowly to get through safely without rushing or getting caught in the closing doors.  There is a second set of doors that is usually propped open for ease of movement through them, but they were shut requiring us to open these manually.  On the doors was a sign to “please keep closed” to protect the newest resident in the facility.  We proceeded to the reception desk to sign in, and were absolutely delighted to be introduced Jazmine.

This middle aged lady had been looking for a place to call home, and she’d visited here three times before deciding this is where she wanted to live.  Unlike the others who live here, this new resident is so special that she is allowed to move freely between all three floors.  But she has to be patient for someone to reach the elevator buttons so she can ride up and down, because she can’t quite reach them.  Actually, she can’t read so I don’t believe she would be able to navigate the elevator button panel even if she were taller.  She could go from the first to the second floor up the beautiful sweeping staircase in the front entrance hall.  But she’s a bit overweight, so the exertion might be a bit much…..I believe she prefers to use the elevator like most of the other residents.

You see, Jazmine is a rescued basset hound.  She is approaching 40 in human years, so she’s a bit younger than her neighbors in this community.  I am not sure if Jazmine realizes that she is a rescue, because she might just be the rescuer of the folks and visitors at her new home, including me!  She is a bit shy and reluctant to approach people at first, but an outstretched hand for a welcome pet is soon recognized.  Her list of new friends grows daily.

After Dad and I met Miss Jazmine, we proceeded upstairs to visit Mom.  Jazmine wanted to follow us on the elevator, but we were not sure of her comfort navigating her new, large house, so we made her stay on the first floor.  Mom was asleep when we reached her room, so we stayed just a few moments, whispered we loved her, and spoke briefly to her caretakers before leaving.  Back on the first floor, we started to sign out in the visitor book, and Jazmine appeared from around the corner as if to say “I’m still here if you want to visit me”.  So, we asked if we could take her for a walk.

We discovered that Jazmine walks very well on a retractable leash.  She stayed mostly on the sidewalk while navigating around the building, following the concrete path as if she’d been there all of her life.  She stopped for a drink from the ground-height fountain located in the garden area. It was partially frozen over, so I pressed the layer of ice on the top of the fountain down so the water below would be deep enough for her to lap….and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

Farther around the back of the building, there is a wooded area.  In true basset fashion, nose to the ground, Jazmine discovered a couple of birds in the pinestraw.  The lady can run!  She never said a word (or a bark), but the birds flew just out of reach, and Jazmine returned to the sidewalk, mission accomplished.  We continued along the path, diverting only to take care of necessary business, and walked straight back to the front door.  Dad was quick to press the automatic button as Jazmine approached, and she never slowed down as she entered the building.  She was home, and she knew it.  Even though we did not get to visit with Mom, Dad and I left feeling satisfied that we spent some quality time getting to know Jazmine.  For a few minutes we made a positive difference in each other’s lives that day.

Rescue means to “save from a distressing situation” or “come to the aid of”.  Just like Jazmine, all the residents in this home have been, in some fashion, “rescued”.  It struck me, watching this rescue dog take ownership of her new found home, that most of the residents she’d joined were a bit like her.  They required a place to stay where their needs would be met.  They needed a place to be safe, warm, and dry.  They no longer had someone who could care for them, or perhaps could no longer care for themselves, so they needed to move to a new residence.  They wanted a community, a neighborhood where they could call home.  And they wanted and needed to be loved and accepted just as they were.

The residents may forget a lot of their past, or might not remember how to get back to their room.  Though age steals many memories, often photos or stories of our loved one’s pets can bring a spark of reminiscence back where so much has been forgotten.  Jazmine is now a welcomed pet to dozens of fellow residents, staff, and visitors.  She is the “talk of the town” with her pink bow on her collar, sad looking eyes and wagging tail.  She also provides a connection to the past for so many who had to leave their pets behind or lost them long ago.

With increasing age, people may have physical and mental challenges, yet they still have the same basic requirements to sustain life.  As we grow older, it is often a comfort to have a furry four-legged friend as a companion, and an occasional hug or pat on the shoulder to let us know we are loved. Or, with Jazmine, a scratch to that special spot under her chin and her long, floppy ears will do just fine!