I’m happy to be back doing therapy cat work after a few weeks of out of town trips! My man and I have been really busy. That was a stark contrast to my first visit back, which was in an assisted living facility. This is usually a relatively low key visit. (Except for the occasional resident who messes up — because they suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s, they can’t help it.)
As soon as we walked in on this visit, we saw two of my regulars sitting on a sofa. One is the nonverbal woman with heavy hands, and the other is a woman who always frowns, but wants to see me.
After spending time with them (a staff member took pictures!), I saw a couple of my friends on another sofa. One was a female who had been in residence for maybe a year. The other was the girl who wanted to high five me.
Other residents I saw included two very old women, and they were both happy to see me! I sat with them for a while. I then jumped up and led my man back to high five the lady and jumped on the sofa next to her. Yes, I’ll admit, he’s one of my favorites.
Once, I visited a woman who spoke Spanish, and a few feet away was a man in a wheelchair. With him was a very young man, probably in his early 20s, so he could be the older man’s grandson. He asked my man many questions about what we did and how often we visited. He thought it was wonderful that my man took me to see the residents. But my man said it was our pleasure. And it is.
A lot of people say about how nice it is of my man to take time out of his day to visit me. But that’s not how we see it. My man considers himself lucky to have a cat like me. One who is open to meeting people and being friendly with them. It doesn’t suit us have do, it is something we are get do it! Being on the therapy cat team is an honor because not everyone has the opportunity.
