My mother, at age 88, chose to move to SpringRidge because she had lived in Charbonneau for nearly 30 years, had friends who liked living there, and could keep playing golf twice a week :) The staff were upbeat, friendly, and caring, including the young people who served the meals.
At each meal, choices varied, to appeal to different appetites and palettes. and were presented nicely. My mom enjoyed the activities that were available, from water aerobics, to Bridge and other games, concerts, lectures, and her favorite, the Friday bus excursions to fun destinations with other SpringRidge friends. When larger amounts of family wanted to gather with her there, there always seemed to be a good place for us to meet, and again, the staff could not have been more accommodating and the dining room director was terrific at coming up with catered meals or snacks for our various birthday and reunion celebrations at more than reasonable cost. My mom's 2 bedroom apartment on the ground floor was light and cheerful. The patio space meant that after our Mother's Day trip to Al's in Woodburn we could together plant her impatiens and geraniums each May. After several years of independent living and enjoying old and new friendships, mom had the fall we women of a certain age all fear and dread, and broke her hip. Her attempt to recover was made extra difficult by other health issues, and had it not been for the compassionate leadership at SpringRidge, to allow her to return to her apartment with the aid of Trilogy caregivers, she would have spent her last weeks deteriorating alone in a skilled nursing facility. I will be forever grateful to the Director and staff for the compassion shown to me and my brothers as we also assisted with her care. She passed away peacefully in the familiar place where she felt comfortable, respected, and loved. SpringRidge turned out to not just be the place where my mom took up residence, but a loving community where our whole family felt welcome coming and going and relieved that she could live her life out the way she chose in a lovely safe and friendly place.
This was all before Covid-19. I really feel for the staff, residents, and related family members with parents at SpringRidge and other similar living groups at this time. It must be so difficult to figure out how to keep things as safe as possible, while allowing people to stay connected with friends and loved ones. For the sake of our elderly, I wish we could do whatever Canada and Europe and Asian countries have done to get our numbers down to end this isolation sooner than later. It seems we are drawing things out by our lack of a national strategy and commitment by all of us citizens to do our part. read more