Vicki Flanery & Wendy Foley

My husband reconnected with a high school friend. They were out to lunch and he told David, my husband, that they had his mother at The Breckinridge and how happy they were with it. We were starting to have issues and knew the time was coming near for Mom to need additional help. So we made an appointment with The Breckinridge and also one other facility.

My brother, Wendy, and I, went and after we toured The Breckinridge, we just stopped. That was it. We knew that that was going to be the right place for Mom.

A Memory Care Facility with Freedom to Garden

We loved the freedom that the residents have to go where they want to go, especially outside. She really used to like going outside and watering in the garden and weeding the garden. And that, that was huge. It really sealed the deal for us because it was so important to Mom to be able to be outside. She was always in her yard planting flowers or weeding when she was able to. It was a very big point of pride for her to be out there and win the award for the neighborhood or whatever, you know. 

They have a handyman, Jimmy, who Mom adores. One thing that they said when we first arrived was, everybody has their job. You have your cooks, you have your handyman, you have your people that do laundry, but their number one priority is patient care. Even though Jimmy was in charge of maintenance and so forth, and the outside, patient care is his number one priority.

Mom adores Jimmy. So when he goes out to do gardening or whatever, Mom will go with him and she will tell him, this needs to be trimmed, that needs to be trimmed, and he says got it. Got it. She’s the straw boss. I like the way they involve everybody.

Interaction and Family Time

They do art day. They get a lot of enrichment that they wouldn’t get at home. They’re not just sitting, watching TV, or whatever. They’re interacting. I like the time of the day when they exercise, we like tea time. We used to visit at tea time because they had great tea-time snacks, nice homemade brownies with ice cream on the side, lemon bars. And no wonder she thinks she’s on a cruise.

They can go to the window in the kitchen, when they’re cooking dinner, they can go to the window and watch and talk to them and they laugh and include them. The window’s huge. They made it even bigger when they remodeled. So mom goes over there all the time to watch. She was always in the kitchen, just hanging out. Seems like that’s where we always hang out anyway, kitchen or the yard. 

A Big Weight Off Our Shoulders

It’s been wonderful to have nursing care because medications at home were a real issue. Dad was not able to provide that on a timely basis. So to have that medication on a timely basis, have physician care, have the nursing staff to watch over her weight, her food intake – it’s phenomenal. That’s been a real plus. It’s been a big weight off our shoulders.

The thing is, she’s safe. She’s emotionally safe. She’s physically safe. She’s medication safe, everything is directed around her. Which is what she loves.