“What must that be like?” It can serve as a mantra, helping us view each interaction, no matter how painful, with acceptance and resilience.
Go ahead, TSA. Make my day
By
Gary Tetz
Nov 05, 2015
“That TSA agent made my day.” You don’t hear that sentence very often. On any list of unlikely utterances, it’s right up there with “Those Republicans and Democrats really...
In a death-phobic nation, long-term care embraces the ultimate privilege
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 21, 2022
Some in long-term care wake up thinking of pay cuts, business survival or reform. Me? I awoke this morning thinking about cremation.
Escape from the blinking light
By
Gary Tetz
Jul 26, 2018
It sits on the facility reception desk, blinking bright purple as I approach, but somehow escapes my initial notice. After all, I have so very many things — urgent things, funny things, deeply profound...
The blues drummers of long-term care
By
Gary Tetz
Jan 26, 2017
After witnessing a musical performance that left me amazed and stupefied, I went home with a flash of insight and a long-sought analogy — facility administrators are the blues drummers of long-term care.
Surefire warning signs that you’re living a long-term care nightmare
By
Gary Tetz
May 03, 2018
Have you ever had a long-term care nightmare? Not the waking kind, where some horrifying facility crisis leaves you muttering, “This is a nightmare.” I’m talking about a real one, the...
Poor, poor pitiful me
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 06, 2018
When I ask rehab patients about the precipitating event that brought them to therapy, they can at least answer the question. Maybe they tripped on a zucchini vine, slipped on a grape in the grocery store...
Love in the air
By
Gary Tetz
Feb 20, 2020
Love was in the air this Valentine’s Day, and in the days before and after. Let me tell you the ways.
Lord of the Rings
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 04, 2021
After mocking wearers of Apple watches not so long ago, citing an annoying interaction that took place in a nursing home lobby, I finally got one myself. I realize this makes me a hypocrite, and I’m...
The long-term care Walk of Shame
By
Gary Tetz
Jun 16, 2016
I’m not aware of any formal, airline-style elite upgrade programs for long-term care residents, but when the time arrives, I hope they exist — and that I qualify.