And What About Barbara?

"Hmm, are you sure this is the way we
play checkers, sister?"

In my infinite pet insight I always imagine Rusty and Annie, especially little man, thinking all these years, "Where does she go all day?  Why does she leave us?"

When I started this blog I was living in the city in which I'd raised my sons. I'd returned, after retiring from teaching, to assist my older sister through a medical crisis.  I had time on my hands as never in my adult life. Annie arrived and her antics just entertained me so!  The blog began. I watched the other Comedy Channel Rusty & Annie and the writing, photos, and videos commenced.  But this is the first post about the "Barb" in its title.

Barb...er, I transferred my teaching skills
added a lot more caregiving and certified myself into a new career as Life Enrichment Leader. I could be a director, but  I'd directed to the point of 50-55 hour weeks for the last 10 yrs of my teaching career so I was quite done with that.  My title conveys how caring for our seniors in "homes" has evolved in the 30 years since my sweet Grammas were in one for a short time.  States have laws that these places must now plan a day's activities to engage elders (called residents) in meaningful (and mostly fun!) ways each day. Or, as my own independently living Dad says, "Ohhhh, so you finally found a job where you could pretend to work!"  Haha, good one, Dad. Yes, I did!

Oh, one tidbit.....I specialize and work within what "the biz" calls Memory Care (which explains the caption on the photo above); this means that I work primarily with residents that have been diagnosed with Dementia and Alzheimer's (a type of Dementia).

Presently (and until 2nd retirement, I hope), I work at a retirement home in a beautiful town below my home south of San Francisco, CA. It is a private home for about sixty retired nuns. Nuns?!  Yes, they do get to retire!  It's a happy, recently renovated, lovely set of buildings on a sixty-five acre stately campus that contains 3 schools K-12. And yet still it is serene.

And so, Annie...Rusty....this is what Barbara does and where she goes. And Rusty, you will soon heal and be back to work with me, too. (If you call sitting on laps all day "work", little man!)

Where Barb goes when she leaves 'the kids'.