Thanks to the inadvertent generosity of Starbucks, I didn’t have to climb a mountain in my bare feet or learn to speak Tibetan to discover the secret of peace and happiness. It was delivered personally...
Long-term care’s 12th Man
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 16, 2014
Sometimes people can love too much. For instance, when love causes an earthquake, it might be time to pull back and examine the health of the relationship.
Amenities gone wild
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 18, 2013
Now and then, I agree to leave my safe, dark hole under the porch and interact face-to-face with actual residents of actual long-term care communities. I did this yesterday, wandering freely through an...
Grateful? Make a list
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 02, 2021
While walking reluctantly into our place of long-term care employment yesterday, a colleague and I started talking sarcastically about how delighted we were to be alive and at work. We didn’t mean a...
After the train
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 08, 2021
There’s a hopeful phrase we started hearing a lot from long-term care leaders, residents and staff when the vaccines first arrived—“a light at the end of the tunnel.” Invariably some wise-guy or...
Awake for a cure
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 08, 2018
At this point in the search for a cure for Alzheimer’s, each glimmer of hope seems to come with a looming cloud of probable disappointment — and the question, “Will I get it someday?”...
The year of the opinion
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 02, 2014
If 2013 was anything, and I’m not convinced it was, it was the year of strong opinions — even in long-term care. The fact that they were often biased, self-serving or blissfully fact-free seemed...
You ‘Like’ me!
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 01, 2012
It’s not necessarily a bad thing, or a good one either — kind of like Rice-A-Roni or the music of Yanni. But instant customer feedback, and the expectation of immediate response and action is where...
An insomniac’s dream
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 14, 2012
Finally, something else to lie awake worrying about. A news story last week cited a study suggesting that sleep quality should improve with age. Great. That’s all I need. More pressure.
Curse of the blue-blockers
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 16, 2021
I’ve suffered with poor vision for most of my adult life. Sometimes at intersections, I have to actually get out of the car and feel the letter ridges on a road sign to confirm my location. So when I...