In my post, What I Want My Nursing Home Room to Look Like, I mention I’d like to have family pictures in my room. Actually, I’d like everyone to have family photos in their nursing home rooms, in addition to photos of themselves when they were young. Before I started in long-term care (I was working at the state psychiatric hospital at the time) and Grandma Lily was in a nursing home, I bought a multi-photo frame, inserted pictures of the family, and hung it on her wall. It transformed the previously anonymous space and I felt happy to see her surrounded by loved ones whenever I came to visit. Pictures and memorabilia tell the story of someone’s life and remind everyone who the person is. They’re the single most homey addition to a room and they last longer than flowers. I’ll be talking more about the holidays as they approach, but if you’re wondering what to get a nursing home resident, photos are an excellent gift.
My parents were thrilled with their 50th wedding anniversary gift of a photoscope created by the talented Sue Samek of Photoscope Gifts. Sue creates one-of-a-kind artwork from your photos.
I first saw Sue's photoscope in the gift shop at the museum of the City of New York… loved the NYC one. I ended up having Sue make one of my vacation to Spain. Its great! usually I just throw vacation pictures in an album and rarely see them again. Now I see them everyday at my office…where I need the
Pat, having a vacation photoscope escape at the office is a great idea. Once I saw Sue's photoscopes, I couldn't stop thinking about the possibilities. Today I was at the eye doctor, and I thought a photoscope of beautiful eyes would look great on his wall (though he'll have to make do with just a copayment for now).