This week’s writing prompt is:
Home
Even though I’ve moved up north (well, not really up north but a lot further north than I used to be!), I still refer to home as down south in Berkshire. It’s where I was born and lived for forty-odd years. I love it where I live now, with its gorgeous countryside and friendly folk, but my roots will always be back in Newbury. Happy times with friends and family come to mind when I think of it. What does HOME mean to you?
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“This will be your new home,” my children told me. The newly renovated and promising place filled me with hope and excitement. I chose a room with a view and close to the dining room, envisioning the three meals a day that were to be provided.
I moved in over a year later when the place finally opened up. The state delayed getting the correct licensing. Luckily, I could stay at the apartment I had been living in. Many people could not wait that long and had to move into other places, including places that didn’t have private rooms like they offered at the place I was going.
They had a ‘ meet your neighbor ‘ lunch about a year before opening (although we thought we were moving in within a few months). The food was wonderful, and we were all happy to think we would have such wonderful food. When we finally moved in, the food was terrible, and the chef who had previously cooked for us was no longer there. To this day, the food sucks bad. It is not edible. There is no variety, it is not cooked, or it is overcooked, and it is served late every day, and since there are two sittings, that means those of us on the first sitting have very little time to eat before they shoo us out of the dining room for the second shift to come in.
Finally, moving in, we quickly learned that there had been many changes since we were first told how things would be. We are all disappointed in how things have ended up. There are constant rule changes, and they don’t have any discipline. The staff calls out constantly, and we are always shorthanded, and nothing is done about it. Dietary is out of control, and despite promises to the contrary, the food is not edible. We were promised a van to take us to our appointments, which isn’t looking too promising either. The lack of a reliable transportation service has made it difficult for many of us to attend our medical appointments on time, which is crucial for our health and well-being.
Due to staff shortages, we often receive our medications at the wrong time or not at all. This is more than just inconvenient. It’s dangerous. We need our meds on time, every time. The constant turnover in staff means they don’t get to know us, adding to our worry and fear.
The only good thing is that we have private rooms, which is very important to us as we have heard horror stories about the theft with the roommates stealing from each other. Some of our residents have lost valuable items due to theft. We have a lot of theft here, and our doors lock, but the aides and nurses don’t lock them when they come out. If I lock my door, I expect it to be locked when I get back to it.
This is my home, and I am not very happy about it, but I can do nothing about it. They just fired our executive administrator, and we are all hoping for big changes in our favor. One can always hope.
Tessa –
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.wordpress.com
Author – Old Writing – http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com
About my life – http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com