Uncle Al Goes to Building 19

Today I picked up Uncle Al at 9:30pm. He was dressed and ready to go.

All the elderly folks who can barely talk wave and thanked me as I smiled and helped Uncle Al up from his seat. We were off to his room to put on his coat and mittens, it was cold this morning and I didn't want his arthritic hands to hurt.

Uncle Al was happy today. He was so excited about using the treadmill yesterday. I made the mistake of telling his social worker that he used the treadmill yesterday. Now I have to wait for permission from the nurses to allow me to help Uncle Al walk on the treadmill.

Instead of walking on the treadmill, I took Uncle Al and my mom to Building 19, the "Good Stuff Cheap Store." He has been asking to go to one for the last week since we've been taking him out just about every day. Today, he got his wish.

Uncle Al pushed the cart slowly, like walking on the treadmill. He looked around and read all the signs out loud. He was thrilled. He had a cute smile on his face. He LOVED rummaging through the bins and was super excited when he found Obama 2008 hats for 1.97. I bought him 2 hats a red and green.

We walked a bit further and there were bright ORANGE fleece pull over jackets for just $5.00. Uncle Al ran over to the jacket and said to me, I have to have this orange jacket, I LOVE the color. Look at how beautiful this color is!

I led Uncle Al to the mirror and he tried on the jacket. He had a big smile on his face as he looked in the mirror and said, "Boy, I look good, don't I?" He looked awesome!

Uncle Al got new sunglasses for .97, the Stevie Wonder kind that wrap around your head. We found a package of 3 pairs of diabetic socks for 6 bucks and a tee shirt for 1.97.

When we got back to my house Uncle Al said, "Where's our stuff, let's look at our stuff." So, I showed him everything and put his name on it with indelible ink. He was happy.

I took him home with his Building 19 stash and a worn out body around 3:30pm. He was thinking about sleeping all the way home. He didn't even read the road signs on the way home, he was too pooped.

Once we unpacked his things and changed his shirt, I brought him to the dining room and sat him down with his friends. I was able to nudge him to go to dinner by telling him that his friends would love to hear about his day out with me. He immediately shook his head yes as he said, "yes, that's right. let's go!" Up he jumped and off we were to the dining room.

As I was leaving one of the residents in the home raised her hand at me and said, "Thank you. Thank you! Thank you!" I walked over to her and said, "You're welcome, but what did I do?" She went on to try to tell me, but she couldn't get the words out.

I kneeled next to the woman named Barbara Hunt and she reached out and cupped her hand around the right side of my face. She thanked me again but still couldn't form her thoughts into words. I FELT her words. She was happy that Uncle Al was happy.

Later I told my mom about the old lady in the home and that's when she told me how Uncle Al told her that he was a real bastard at the home because he didn't care anymore. Then we all showed up and now he is nice again.

I wonder if Uncle Al was terrorizing the old ladies?

Oh, there was this other exchange between another elderly woman sitting across the table from Barbara. She was trying to tell Barbara to ask me how much I charge. I think she wants me to take her and Barbara out for the day like I do with Al.

I can see it now, I'll have to hire a van and take all the old folks to Building 19 for a day of fun.