Confetti: Part 2 of 4
The retirement home was very nice. It was new. The cafeteria looked more like an expensive restaurant. It smelled like the fresh pastries and cookies available all day at the office bar in the front lounge area. Whenever the door opened to Grandma Confetti’s apartment, there was a sound of constant flowing water from the large fish tanks with small waterfalls that lined the hallway. But mostly it smelled of clean linen; there was always a pleasant staff member walking around delivering towels and sheets to the residence. And there was always extra fresh linen in the storage areas of each hallway for emergencies.
The retirement home was active and full of excitement during the day when everyone was out participating in all of the activities offered. It was quiet and still at night when most of the emergencies would take place. Some residence would pass away or become ill throughout the night. The retirement home had walkways that connected the entire facility, a medical center, fitness center, pool and hot tub, convenience store, art studio, game room, library, and brand new large screen televisions on each wall. It was the kind of retirement home that families loved to spend time in. And it was very close in distance to Sarah’s home.
One Saturday morning in October, when Grandma Confetti had been there for almost a month, she walked outside through the lush gardens on the grounds of the facility. Her daughter had not arrived for her normal visit. Grandma Confetti sat on the bench by herself near the front door feeling abandoned and lonely.
“There’s nobody here to really talk to,” she thought. She stood up to stretch and see if anybody would notice her presence but no one did. She saw the woman who lived a few doors down from her and waved in her direction. She smiled and waved back. Grandma Confetti started to walk towards the woman when she was cut off by a little 4 year old running to give the woman a hug. When the woman’s whole family grouped together, Grandma Confetti walked into the front door of the facility back towards her apartment. She stopped by the library to browse the new books that came in. When she looked them all over, she walked to her apartment, changed her clothes and sat in her favorite big cozy chair in front of the television. She didn’t feel like watching shows, she didn’t feel like reading, she was tired of eating snacks, tired of sitting around. “I have only been here for a month and I’m ready to go home, “she thought.
She walked into the kitchen for a snack. “When I’m here, I eat,” she said, “there’s nothing to do but eat. When I’m done eating, there’s nothing to do but take a nap.”
“Is it ok if I come in for a while?” said a soft voice.
Grandma Confetti looked at the front door of her apartment and saw her grand-daughter Sarah standing there.
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