She touches his shoulder, “Of course, let’s take you to your room.”
We all follow her down the hallway, to a room without a name on it yet. The rest have wreaths with their last name. “This will be all yours to decorate how you want.”
He walks in, and it’s bigger than I expected. It’s about the size of the living room at the house and has its own flat screen, a king size bed, dresser, closet, and bathroom.
“What do you think?” Hazel asks.
He doesn’t answer, but continues to walk around the room, examining everything. Raquel looks back at me, doe eyes wide, and smiles. She’s thinking the same thing I am. Can we pursue this relationship now? I’ve been looking forward to dinner tonight since she said yes, and now I’m not even sure if it’s still going to happen.
“It’s difficult to get used to at first. We promise to make you feel at home here. And family can visit anytime they want,” Raquel says. “Would you like to walk around and meet some others?”
He nods, and takes off to the common room leaving us behind. I’m not sure what to ask, and so I let Hazel take over from here. She is the one paying for it, and wants her to feel comfortable, too.
“I am the resident nurse here at the facility. If you decide to have him here, I promise to take good care of him. His doctor sent over his file, and I think you’re doing this at the right time.”
Hazel asks a bunch of questions about how they will handle his episodes, if he may leave the center with a family member, and what the specifics are. She mentions wanting her to meet his grandson if he comes down.
“Family is welcome anytime here. Our residents thrive on interaction. As far as leaving the facility, they can be checked out for a period of up to four hours. However, we suggest you don’t do this once they show signs of not recognizing family. This is more for your safety.”
Hazel cries again, and then tries to talk us out of doing this. “What if he hates it here? I don’t want him to think we don’t love him, you know? This has all been so hard, and I can’t imagine what he is going through.”
I pull her close into my shoulder. “He knows we would do anything for him. This is the right thing, no matter how hard it is.”
Raquel glances at me with a smile, and puts in her two cents. “You don’t have to decide today, ma’am. We will hold his spot for three days to give you time. I will say this though, after seeing his file, and hearing about the episode this morning, it’s going to progress fast and it’s best to get him comfortable while he’s still himself.”
She excuses herself, and we go try to find him. He’s sitting in the common room, talking to some gentleman about the war, and smiles when he sees us. This might not be a bad place for him, and it will be nice for him to make some friends.
“You ready to go?” I ask, approaching the table with the men.
“So, when do I move in?” he asks. “This is Paul. He fought in Vietnam.”
I wave Hazel over, and repeat the question.
“So, this is where you would like to go?” she asks.
“Paul and I have some common interests, and it seems like an alright place, I guess.”
Hazel smiles, and goes to find Raquel to let her know he has decided. I stand behind him and let him finish talking with Paul until she gets back.
“You’re all set to move in tomorrow. Looks like we have some packing to do tonight. We better get started,” Hazel says.
He waves bye to Paul, and then Raquel lets us out of the double doors. I’m glad he didn’t freak out about this, and took it like a champ.
My dad is my hero, and nothing will ever change that.