March came in like a lion and has continued to roar the entire month. It was supposed to leave like a lamb.
In our February column I had written a statement about watching the weather from your windows. Little did I know that we would all be looking out our windows and watching the leaves blow by, longing to be with our loved ones no matter what the weather was like outside.
I could write this column so many different ways this month. I could write it and complain about not seeing our families, be angry about not having entertainment, tell you how scary it is to think about the COVID-19 virus entering our building or to express our fatigue of the entire subject matter.
But I would rather write about how grateful we all are at this moment.
Everyone at Creighton Lodge is grateful for the loving gestures that have been made towards us during this COVID crisis.
EB’s Dining treated us to a premier luncheon. Dave and Diane Rosenbaum have always been good to the residents of Creighton Lodge. We started our four-course meal with a choice of delicious Greek salad or coleslaw, followed by a delicious creamy red pepper soup (which they created especially for those of us that don’t like a lot of spice). Each bowl had homemade garlic croutons placed on top.
The main course was individual spinach quiche; they had a melt in your mouth crust that was unbelievable. The meal was finished off with a homemade carrot cake, topped with cream cheese icing.
They sent us an extra one, which we froze and ate a few days later. Thank you so much for thinking of us. Your kindness is appreciated.
Lyle and Tracy Grube showed up with beautiful purple carnations, plus Tracy’s gym kids included red hearts they created, that had inspiring messages for us all. Lyle’s mom, Mary Grube, was a resident at Creighton Lodge up until 2015. By seeing Tracy at the lodge it brought back memories of how special Mary Grube was and how much we miss her words of wisdom.
Genco Asphalt Inc. treated us to a luncheon of Tower Café pizza. We had ham, salami and mushroom, their delicious version of a Hawaiian pizza and also a vegetarian for those of us watching our calorie intake. Mozza sticks were included to help ensure we didn’t go hungry. There were even chicken finger dinners for those who don’t enjoy pizza. (We still love them even if they don’t like pizza). Thank you to the McClement family at Genco Asphalt.
Krista McClement organized the entire event for us and her efforts are appreciated. Speaking of Krista, she has also been providing us with a sheet of weekly “Who am I?“ riddles. Some of those riddles have us stumped and others we pat ourselves on the back for guessing as quickly as we do. We hand them out on Friday so it gives us something to talk about all weekend.
We have been receiving letters from people in our community for Days of Caring. One package even came from a great granddaughter who lives in Weyburn. The beautiful princess colouring page was very much appreciated by great grandma Deloris Mehler.
Rhonda Pachal had all her children creating beautiful Easter crafts for us. (I think it was mostly the daycare kids, but a few looked like Brayden Pachal might have helped out too.) Thank you Rhonda and also to Kent Pachal who dropped them off.
We want to extend our deepest sympathies to Carol Block and family. Del Block passed away in March and will be forever remembered by all of us. Del was a councillor at the RM of Estevan No. 5, and was a part of the council in 2010 when the five RM’s took ownership of the lodge. Del’s dad, Orville Block, also lived at the lodge and has a special place in our hearts.
At the end of the day, we are grateful to have each other at the lodge. We have mastered the art of social distancing, we are OK with being six feet apart because we can still see each other and hear the sounds of our voices.
Nothing else matters if you have your health and people to love you. We can’t wait to hug all our loved ones, but for now we are doing our part to stay healthy. Thank you to everybody that is also doing their part to keep us healthy! You are all appreciated.
