That pandemic. Wow. While it was happening and people were dying and stuff, I remember thinking, “This is kind of a difficult time we’re going through. I feel a little stressed and anxious.” But...
Things I Think: Save enough to get back home
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 07, 2022
I wanted so badly to keep going, to devote everything I had to my mission that day, and I felt like a complete failure when I turned around.
It’s me. I’m the problem.
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 05, 2023
Sadly, I didn’t get to the American Health Care Association convention this year. Actually, it’s been a full decade since I last personally attended one of these auspicious gatherings, Now, lest...
Passion isn’t enough
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 31, 2024
With each facility tour you give and prospective admission you consider, never forget that families like mine, whose hearts are breaking, cling desperately to every word and promise.
The blinking light
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 25, 2024
The office next to mine is empty. Well, not completely. A few pieces of furniture, an ugly lamp and some dog-eared file folders clutter the space a long-term care colleague once occupied. But that’s...
The hypocrisy of staffing mandates
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 19, 2023
Absorbed as you probably are in fighting through the long-term care staffing crisis while parrying a CMS mandate, I wouldn’t blame you for not noticing. But at airports across America, big planes are...
Bad news, it’s worse than we thought
By
Gary Tetz
Feb 08, 2024
A mere couple of blogs ago, I shared my concern, based on excellent McKnight’s reportage, that seniors are becoming just as addicted to their devices as young people. That seemed shocking, given our...
Prolonging life, one smile at a time
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 08, 2022
I think it’s a law that every boy has to try secretly smoking behind the garage, at least once in childhood. For me, that first attempt involved a neighbor kid and I grabbing a handful of grass — no,...
A gaggle of Garys
By
Gary Tetz
Nov 02, 2023
I’m still not sure if it was intended as a loving tribute or blatant mockery, since I don’t possess the power to pierce the opacity of the human heart and discern anyone’s true motives. But nine...
An unwelcome warning
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 27, 2023
While plodding a narrow, precipitous path high on the flank of Mt. Rainier this week, I saw a father and his young daughter approaching on the trail. She was an adorable child of maybe 4 or 5, all decked...