The List: ‘I’m glad I got that experience again’

One of my favorite stories on my list of stories I worked on this week you can find in the Fontanelle Observer. The story rang true for me because it was an interview with a daughter who has recently been reunited with her mother, who lives at Good Samaritan Society Fontanelle. Except for one time when they thought it was an end of life situation, she hadn’t seen her mom in about a year.

I interviewed Sheona Feinhage, the activities director at Good Samaritan, and she said that staff members long to see their residents reunited with family. When family come in to see their loved ones for the first time, staff sometimes will ask if they can accompany them so they can see the look on their residents’ faces. That was a comment that was made that struck a chord with me.

As I listened to Sheona and this family member I talked to speak with me, I couldn’t think of my own emotions after seeing my grandma and grandpa for the first time.

I remember in January 2020, Kilee and I drove to Atlantic to see my grandparents during a gospel music hour their assisted living facility they had just moved into was having. The singers are some people we know, so it was extra enjoyable for that reason as well.

We anticipated returning to see my grandparents, who were living elsewhere from their farm they had lived on for 60 years for the first time, but for good reason, COVID-19 said otherwise.

I have no problem respecting the rules put in place, but I am certainly glad we’re transitioning back to normal.

Calling on the phone just wasn’t the same with grandma and grandpa, mainly due to memory and hearing complications, but it worked the best it could. Unlike some places, we weren’t required to use a phone to communicate on window visits. I would call grandpa to let him know we were coming and he would either open the window or open the screen in the window, and we’d talk from a distance.

Still, it wasn’t the same. We couldn’t sit with them, couldn’t touch them, etc. When weather was less than desirable, those visits were understandably shorter.

As this March rolled around, facilities began talking about reopening to some degree. Case numbers were dwindling to some degree and vaccinations were on the rise. My grandparents’ facility did a phased-in approach to opening, but it really went fairly quickly, and now they are pretty much all the way open. You’re required to wear a mask, be screened for a temperature and sign in, but we’ve been there to visit my grandma and grandpa once since they opened and plan to go again soon. We had a really great visit last time we went. My dad, my two aunts and all their spouses got to go recently too. They were able to go see them, hug them and celebrate a birthday together.

My point is that the process was simple. It’s frustrating we all have to argue about vaccine or no vaccine, mask use or no mask use, mandate this or don’t mandate this. If COVID-19 has taught me anything, it’s to not take the little things for granted. A hug from my grandparents would fall into that category, and I’m glad I got that experience again.