I can remember a few years ago when my grandfather passed away. It was a tough time for my family. Losing anyone is hard.
It was especially hard for my grandmother. She had spent the last 55 years with this man. And all of a sudden he was gone. She didn’t know what to do with herself. My grandpa looked after everything. He drove her his wife everywhere. Paid the bills. Took out the garbage and pretty much did everything around the house.
As you can imagine my family was stuck as to what to do with my grandma. There was no way she could manage on her own. Could one of her daughters or granddaughters look after her?
We all go together to determine if we could find a way to take care of her. But it was going to be too difficult.
So we started looking for care homes. He first started looking around Langley and found an Abbotsford nursing home and came across one called Bevan Village. It was close to where she lived, but it wasn’t close to us.
After some talk, we decided to look elsewhere. My family was living on Vancouver Island so we then started looking for a Nanaimo nursing home. We came across one called Woodgrove Manor and it seemed like a very nice place. It was close to us in Victoria and it was a little smaller than the others. We felt she could get more attentive care by living there since it was a little smaller.
The question now was could we convince my grandmother that she had to first off move into a nursing home and secondly, move from Langley to Nanaimo.
It was going to be difficult. My grandmother was a very sweet and kind lady. Every time I went over there as a child she would give me $20! Back in the 90’s, $20 was a lot! I would of course spend it on stupid stuff, but I was young.
In the end she knew it would be best for the family if she did move from Langley to Nanaimo and live at the Woodgrove Manor nursing home.
Every time we visited her, she always remarked at how great the staff was and their level of care. A few of the care workers had a special relationship with her. She was one of their favorites.
It was a sad day when she passed away. Everyone at the home was crying. It’s not often you see people cry after only knowing someone for a couple of years. But that was the kind of impact my grandmother had on people. She took an interest in them and showed that she cared for them.
In the end it was the best move for the family and my grandmother to move her into a nursing home. If you are in the same boat, look at doing the same.