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.
Embracing the now
By
Gary Tetz
Nov 01, 2020
It’s one of the most ubiquitous laments of the pandemic, how time passes in a shapeless blur. “Sunrise, sunset. Swiftly flow the days,” goes the song from the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.” And...
At last, a wisp of hope
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 01, 2020
Gather around, dearly beloved long-term care people. Let’s have a little talk. I’m looking at all of you, in every facility role — the whole heroic and beautiful group. We’ll meet in the parking...
Raging against reality
By
Gary Tetz
Mar 02, 2020
If I needed an object lesson in why seniors, long-term care providers and actually, all humans, seem to have such difficulty facing the inevitability of change, I got it recently — in the men’s wear...
Things I Think: Opera’s resonance
By
Gary Tetz
Nov 14, 2019
How can listening to opera possibly improve the cognitive function of dementia patients? Notice I didn’t ask whether. According to McKnight’s, Chinese researchers are proving the point, and who am...
Things I Think: Good, Bad news
By
Gary Tetz
Aug 02, 2019
Bad news, people. Alzheimer’s disease can be prevented.
Things I Think: A cow in every lobby
By
Gary Tetz
Sep 06, 2019
Every nursing home administrator probably has a favorite story of a resident whose state of health and happiness was transformed by experiencing the unconditional love of an animal. It’s universal, like...
Things I Think: Playing favorites
By
Gary Tetz
Oct 18, 2019
Over the years, I’ve had my favorite senior care residents. Many of them. Anyone who works in this profession probably has some too. I’m particularly drawn to those who are funny, optimistic,...
Things I Think: The lessons of autumn
By
Gary Tetz
Dec 05, 2019
Autumn is a time of change. That probably seems trite and obvious, and certainly it’s a trait shared by all the seasons, at least where I live in the Pacific Northwest. But the transitions of fall always...
Heroes of another war
By
Gary Tetz
May 01, 2020
Ed was only 16 years old, but when Pearl Harbor was attacked, he rushed to his local Navy recruiting office to enlist, only to be told he was too young to serve in the military.