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 “You don’t stop laughing when you grow old, you grow old when you stop laughing.” – George Bernard Shaw

A lot of people have misconceptions about assisted living and memory care facilities. They may picture a dark dreary place where the residents are sad, lonely, and bored. At Garden View, that could not be farther from the truth! First of all, Garden View is bright and airy – lots of natural light throughout the building. The most common comment that we get from visitors is how much they love the home-like feel. When the weather is nice, residents can enjoy the breeze on the back porch, rock on the front porch, or on a cold day, hang out by the fireplace in the living room with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

There is never an excuse for being bored at Garden View! Our Life Enrichment Coordinator puts out a calendar chock full of activities each month – from live entertainment each week to chair exercises, word games to golf, cornhole, and bowling (in the living room!), parties for any occasion, and of course bingo! Whatever we do, we laugh a lot!

Almost any party will result in dancing – the residents dance fairly well, but the staff members’ dancing can produce a few giggles. Many games turn into a joke session based on the theme of the game. And at least one of the staff loves corny jokes and puns (and googly eyes) that result in both laughs and a few groans (or maybe it’s the other way around!).

It doesn’t hurt that we have a lot of characters living at Garden View – they definitely brighten our day! It’s hard to be too serious when one resident “faux boxes” with you, another tells you that you need to go to confession because you told her how cute her craft was, and yet another tells you – jokingly – that he finally let his wife out of the closet, it’s hard to keep a straight face.

Our residents – and staff – love to laugh. We laugh during Hangman, especially since one resident wants to see him hang! We laugh during bowling when a stray ball goes straight for a dining server. We laugh during Pictionary when everyone sees something other than what the drawing is supposed to be. We laugh when potting plants when one lady tells us that she didn’t want to get her hands dirty – that her husband did that kind of thing for her. We laugh during Pokeno when residents squabble over the rules, and during Spades when the resident teasingly accuse each of cheating.

“It’s better to laugh than cry,” is not just a cliché – it’s almost a motto that we live every day.