April was a quiet month, mostly spent inside the lodge, listening to the news and trying to figure out what is happening in the world.
Sadly, we had a few residents move out of the lodge in the past weeks. Marieanna Bonokoski, who was a resident of Creighton Lodge since the RMs took ownership in 2010, had to move. Marieanna’ s family told us that she is settling into her new home and we wish her the best.
Marieanna is one of the sweetest ladies. She convinced her sister Lucille to move into the lodge a few years ago and it was great to see them so happy together. Not only are they sisters, but they are the best of friends, too. We are glad they got the chance to spend so much time together in their retirement years.
Lucille is looking forward to being able to visit Marieanna in her new home, as are we. Family is everything to Marieanna.
Otillia Gervais also left the lodge in March. Sadly, Otillia wasn’t able to live in her new home very long. Otillia passed away on March 28. Otillia was a lovely lady who held her family near and dear to her heart. When Otillia first moved to Creighton Lodge, we soon realized what a proud mother she was and over the years have come to know all of her family.
Otillia was blessed with daily visits from her sons, daughter in laws and many grandchildren. Our condolences go out to the Gervais family; may you find peace in knowing that your mother will always be with you in your hearts and in your memories.
Jean Wilson passed away on April 17 with her daughter Bev Holinaty by her side. We are saddened that the COVID-19 pandemic prevented Jean from having her daughters with her in the weeks before Jean went to the hospital. Jean and her daughter Bev were like two peas in a pod. They were never far apart from each other until the COVID pandemic caused them to not be able to see each other daily.
Jean took comfort in the daily phone calls from her family, the window visits each day and the ability to watch the lawn ornaments that her daughters had placed outside her window. Our condolences go out to Jean Wilson’s family who are mourning the loss of a mom they didn’t get a chance to say good-bye to. May you all find peace in knowing Jean is pain-free and watching over you all.
We didn’t have any new residents move into the lodge during the month of April, due to the COVID pandemic. May will see a few new faces. We will announce the names in our next column so that they all have a chance to settle in.
In order to pass the time at the lodge, we are doing a lot of reminiscing. Some of the residents have memories from their parents and grandparents who lived through the Spanish flu. When we hear those stories, and what some were tasked to do during the Spanish flu, it reminds us that being quarantined in our homes with our loved ones isn’t so bad. This is a great time for us all to practise empathy for each other. We all have our problems, some worse than others; at the end of the day we are in this together.
At the end of April we started to plan how to allow visitors back into the lodge beginning in May. We decided to allow only necessary visits, which means if our loved ones are just coming to see us for a social visit, then we prefer it not to happen.
If our visitor is coming in to the lodge to assist us with our personal care or other needs, then we will allow the visitor to come in after they answer a COVID-19 screening questionnaire. Some families are having social distanced visits outside with the residents, but we encourage this to happen in very small groupings and please allow the six feet between each other.
Some of our residents are heading out into their cars for a nice little drive around the city; we are encouraging them to not stop and visit anywhere while they are out driving. However, it is still nice to have a little freedom and feel the wind blow in the window of the car. Anyone have a convertible we could borrow for the month of May? That would really help us to feel the wind blowing in our hair.
Room by Room Furniture called and our new dining room furniture has arrived. We are so excited! We have put off the delivery until May, but we definitely can’t wait to see the new tables and chairs. This is a project we have been saving up for.
Last year the Estevan Legion made a donation towards the dining room furniture and it was just what we needed to make the project happen. Our old furniture will be sold by a bidding system once the lodge opens back up, so if you are interested in a dining room set, please call Shelly at 306-634-4154. Watch our Facebook page for details.
A huge thank you to everyone who has written letters, sent cards, jokes, funny pictures, drawings, potato chips, wine (especially the wine), donations and the phone calls to just check in. We are feeling the love, we are doing our best to stay healthy both mentally and physically and we know the day will come that we can hug you again. Until that day, just know that we are doing OK!
