Autumns Colours
Page 10
* * * * * *
At the Golden Millennium Home for Elderly Travellers, one thing could be taken as certain. Each traveller who paused there for a few moments would bring with them the remainder of a long-ago-allotted span of days, months and years. The length of this remaining span remained confidential, and was never disclosed to the traveller.
quiz
Suggested answers are in italics.
‘Night staff received requests for all sorts of things.’
57. What strange requests have you received from your residents during your night shifts?
• Your answer.
‘Few residents seemed to be bothered about remembering the fifth of November and the gunpowder plot.’
58. Is there any point in trying to interest your residents in firework celebrations, the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations or a royal wedding?
• Your answer.
My opinion is that there is. Celebrating such events helps to improve the quality of life for residents and enables them to keep in touch with everyday life. Families and friends are often willing to join in and provide practical support for any special event that the staff organise.
‘Sunday saw the usual Remembrance Day service on the television.’
59. What is the value in encouraging residents to wear poppies and to watch the Remembrance Day service on TV?
• Your answer.
• Encourage your residents to concentrate on some of the positive aspects of remembering.
• The bravery of those who died.
• The freedom from oppression we have enjoyed in Britain due to the sacrifice of brave men and women.
• The tremendous community spirit that was often evident in those difficult days.
My opinion is that as time passes fewer of our residents will have been involved in the Second World War, but an increasing number of them will have children and grandchildren who will have been killed or seriously injured in conflicts in Bosnia, Iran, Afghanistan, etc. These lost lives will also need to be remembered.