Thursday, October 19, 2006

Back to The Haven

I took the boys to visit the “old people” again yesterday. This is our second time. We started off in the main lounge again, but it’s difficult to really visit in there because the TV was on with the sound muted, and a radio next to it playing some loud and awful music. We stayed in there for about five minutes, with the boys staring in the direction of the TV which pictured little dogs dressed up in ridiculous jerseys, and then decided that this wasn’t really working, so I wandered around the complex until I found someone who could direct me to someone else to visit. We came upon a lady in her room who had been napping, and so the staff lady woke her up, and I sat on her bed while she spoke quite loudly, with an accent, about this and that. She was so happy to have visitors though and of course thought the boys were lovely. The boys, in the meantime, chatted with the staff lady who introduced herself as Phyllis, and was very friendly. We stayed with our new lady, Caroline, for about ten minutes, then walked home again. It was a positive visit though and I think more beneficial than sitting in the lounge with The Gathering. The boys are happy to come along, which I’m glad about because I want them to get into the habit of doing unusual things like visiting old people. If there were an orphanage nearby I’d probably take them there too. (Island culture doesn’t lend itself to orphanages though – too many grandparents around if the parent doesn’t want or can’t look after the child).

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