This is one of my favorite places to hang out in the city of Orange. I discovered the Orange Senior Center a few years ago when I took my dad-in-law to visit. Prior to residing in assisted living and now a board and care home, Dad lived quite independently. Other than hanging out with me (I was his primary caregiver at the time), his buddies at Kiwanis and Mark, his part-time caregiver, Dad didn’t have too much of a social network.
Being the resourceful chick, I investigated the center and just KNEW Dad needed to go. Too sequestered in his home, or so I thought. I mean, who wouldn’t love a bit of bingo then lunch? LAME-O me. We sat among the other seniors for a short time. Let’s just say Dad had better places to be, like his own house, for example.
“These people are too old!” said the 79-year-old man.
“Don’t you think you might wanna give it a chance? We’ve only been here 10 minutes. Can’t we stay long enough to see who wins the next bingo round?” (Like I was gonna miss THAT?)
OK, so Dad didn’t exactly bond with bingo or anything else under the roof that day. I wasn’t going to push. It’s not my style.
That said, I bonded with this place almost immediately. Bingo? Not so much. It was the people. Old people. Old, funny, intelligent people – sharing, conversing, complaining, kvetching, laughing. Just like it is in my house.
That, my friends, was just the beginning of my relationship with the Orange Senior Center. More discoveries happened after that day. Much more.
Comments(3)