Diane exclaimed, “Oh my gosh! Dad, what are you doing over here?!”

Ralph gives a beaming smile so large you ought to think his dentures were going to fall out.

Being a CNA at a nursing home, we don’t get much free time to spend with our residents. There are only two of us, and 15 residents that need our assistance. 

In June, a class of  CNA students was visiting for their clinical rotation, so there were more people in the unit than needed. So, I took Ralph* and my student out to the glistening lake, Lac LaBelle. Upon wheeling Ralph to the lake, we passed his daughter, Diane*, who was sitting outside of the restaurant chatting with a friend. 

Diane said she hadn’t seen him in awhile, and was overjoyed to see him getting outside of the unit and sitting by the lake. 

She thanks us for bringing him all the way out to the lake on the beautiful day, and says, 

“I will be over in a little bit!”

The lake was happy to be in company with us: calm waters, the sun hitting our backs just right, the wind lightly blowing our hair. 

When you are a resident in a nursing home, you hardly leave the same set of walls. The routine of sleeping and eating rarely changes. The units are typically short staffed. So, taking the residents out to the lake is an opportunity that occurs about once or twice a year, and only happens when others come for their clinical rotations. 

*names changed for confidentiality purposes