Working at Riverside has been an experience like no other. Both workers and tenants are fantastic to spend time with. The only unfortunate part about Riverside is that since most of the tenants are older the chance of someone passing on is quite high. That is what happened on Tuesday night to one of my favourite tenants. She was a lady who was extremely nice, who was always out of her room socializing and brightening everyone’s day. About a month ago while she was walking down to one of the music nights, which is put on here at Riverside, she fell and broke her hip. She is known to be a very determined lady, since she has already recovered from two strokes, so recovering from this should have been a breeze. It was not to be.
After a successful surgery mid December, she was transferred back to the Vanderhoof to start physiotherapy. Her mood was pretty good and upon visiting her, I felt her road to recovery would have been tough but well within her ability. She was surrounded by flowers and cards, one which included a huge Dalmatian pop out card. This was not a new card by any means because it had been given to her while her husband was still alive. Inside a simple hand written note which said “...from the moment I spotted you I was in love....” when I asked her about the card she said it gave her strength to carry on a fight go get better. That visit was unfortunately the last time I would be able to see her. Slightly after Christmas her body could not take the strain and began to shut down. She passed away on January seventh days before her ninetieth birthday. I take comfort in knowing that she had a long and prosperous life and that she has a loving partner waiting for her on the other side.
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