Seniors Situation Room by Dawn Ford. Mother’s Day & Covid-19 Cleanliness at CCH

MAY 6, 2021 – “Spring has sprung. The grass is riz. I wonder where the birdies is?” Well, not around this bird feeder for sure.

Bob Katz took this photo watching the big black furry squirrel, manoeuvred himself off a wooden beam to this feeder. He filled himself up with lots of seeds apparently before scrambling back off and onto the beam. As soon as he left, some birds came, grabbed a couple of seeds in a few seconds and were gone in a flash.

You know Mr. Squirrel, the people who set up the bird feeder did mean the seeds for the birds. However, Robbie Burns once said in 1785 that the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. Even birdfeeders, I guess.

We may all have the occasion to be a patient in a hospital one day. It happened to me recently here at CCH in Cornwall. One thing I noticed right away was all the extra work the different department’s staff has with prevention measures being taken because of the COVID virus. The place is spotless. The nursing staff were so kind and helpful and it was easy to see how dedicated they are to their patient’s well-being. I found that to be true in other departments as well that I went to for tests and again, very spotless with friendly helpful staff. For instance, on a stretcher I raised myself up by holding onto the side rails. A staff came right away and cleaned the railings. She said because I had touched them without any gloves on, it had to be washed down right away.

The laundry department were very busy bringing fresh linen and also bags full of fresh gowns worn by staff. Masks and gloves, and plastic face shields on some staff members were also the order of the day for everyone. Yet, with all the necessary precautions and extra work and strain, the staff remained cheerful and friendly.

Thank you to all the staff including Dr. Zaid and Dr. Kyrollos for all your care during my stay.

It must cost a ton of money to run a hospital with all the added precautions, even more than usual. I am sure the hospital would welcome any support, even small financial donations add up. Any way we can support them is important, especially right now during this pandemic crisis.

It was quite an experience. I was glad when I was home in my own bed with my beautiful Tiger cat purring beside me. He missed his ‘mommy’,

National Nurses Day is May 12th. Great time to honour them.

Child Haven International’s newsletter arrived recently and as usual, full of wonderful photos of happy children and staff.CHI was formed in 1985 by Fred and Bonnie Cappuccino and Dr. Nat Shah to help orphaned and destitute children and women in need of food, clothing, health care, education , moral and emotional support. There are ten projects in four countries: Tibet in China, Nepal, India and Bangladesh.

In this newsletter is a very interesting article about a book , “Becoming Nanci Didi, My Child Haven Journey by Nanci Burns of Ottawa. It is a book about her experiences as a volunteer/ intern for three months at the Kathmandu Children’s Home. The book is a fund raiser for Child Haven and according to the article can be purchased at www.blurb.ca/b/10165428-becoming-nanci-didi where an on-line version is also available for $11.99.

For more information on Child Haven go to child haven.ca or call the Maxville office at 613-527-2829.

The newsletter always closes with the inspiring quote of Rabindranath Tagore:

“Let me light my lamp, says the star,

And never debate if it will dispel the dark.”

Mother’s Day is May 9th. I had the best Mother anyone could ever have had. Bet you say that too. Happy Mother’s Day to all our Mom’s.

My Mom had a lot of old remedies for things many years ago. For instance, if your tummy is upset, take ENO. If you have something sore like a muscle, rub with Menard’s Liniment. If you have a sore throat, gargle with salt and warm water. If you are getting a cold, a nice warm mustard plaster on the chest helps as does a warm mustard soak for your feet if you get them too cold out skating at night in the winter. If you have dentures, soak them at night in salt and water. ” And the list goes on. Seemed to work at the time. Moms are so great – always there to help one way or another.

My snow bird relative will soon be leaving Florida to return to Canada. Coming back at a good time with spring here and warmer weather. I won’t tell her we just had a bit of snow. She sent me this lovely photo of the beach near her. She said it will be hard to leave.

Thanks for sharing all this beauty with us.

It was time for a COVID vaccination recently at the Benson Center. The staff working were all friendly and helpful. A security Guard is right at the entrance to help in any way. Wheelchairs are available for anyone who needs one. It is a very large center with a fair amount of walking. The line moved quickly and there was no waiting. Paramedics were giving the shots that day including my favourite paramedic and friend Randy Lalonde. The paramedic giving me my shot did it so easily and gently that I didn’t even feel it. Then I had to wait with others for awhile to make sure there was no side-effect. It was certainly very well organized. Thanks to all the staff who are working so hard to help stop the spread.

Recently I heard the very beautiful romantic song, “My Prayer” by the Platters. It brought back so many memories. One was dancing on a Saturday night at the local YMCA with a lot of other teens and school classmates. The great DJ was Sidney Horovitz, a school chum. I am sure we all waltzed around the floor to that lovely song many times over the years. Wonderful song; wonderful memories.

Here is a joke from a friend:

A second grader came home from school and said to her grandmother,” Grandma, guess what?” We learned how to make babies today.” The grandmother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool. “That’s interesting”, she said. “How do you make babies?” “It is simple,” replied the little girl. “You just change the ‘y’ to ‘i’ and add ‘es’.

Have a good week ,Dawn