At Country Meadows Retirement Communities, we celebrate the beautiful lives, legacies and experiences residents bring with them. From how residents decorate their apartments to the activities planned to foster each resident’s interest, there are many opportunities to understand residents’ past and get to know them as individuals. It starts with learning about residents’ Life Story on move-in day—what they like, dislike, are passionate about or are interested in. The Connections Memory Support Services neighborhood takes it a step further and has positioned shadowboxes outside residents’ doors as a way for the residents and their family to display keepsakes, photographs or other memorabilia unique and special to them.
For Norma Treichler, her daughter Marylou spent many hours crafting a “story box” that displayed her mother’s love and success in playing tennis. The box, filled with black and white photos and detailed, hand-written descriptions of Norma’s life, was a way for Marylou to introduce who her mom really is to caregivers and neighbors at the Country Meadows campus in Bethlehem.
“Before mom’s memory became too jumbled, my brother, husband and I reviewed old photos of her and asked her to tell us her history. She did so in great detail and said, ‘Tennis was my #1 thing, archery was second,’” explained Marylou. “Putting this box together meant I was trying to advocate for mom since she could no longer clearly represent the younger history of herself consistently to the co-workers who are getting to know her.”
In reviewing the story box, we learn Norma was the first woman to play tennis in her high school. And in 1945, she was the first woman to win a tennis trophy in that high school. Even in her childhood years, she was on the court every chance she got. The childhood apartment was right near a court, and when neighbor kids didn’t have a partner, they knew where to go—Norma would be sure to play. By age 15, she had a tennis mentor who encouraged her to travel to Flushing Meadows in Queens, New York for the US Open Tennis Tournaments—a huge invitation for a young woman at the time.
Norma loves to tell stories, so the story box is an expression of her passions and interests.
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As Norma’s family explains, when she talks about New York City, she lived there for more than a decade in her early adult life during her college and career. She worked as an elevator operator at Gimbel’s department store and met Mr. Gimbel himself. She later graduated from Pratt Institute College in the city and became a practicing dietitian. Another story she likes to share is how she got stuck in a hospital freezer and used those strong tennis leg muscles to get the door open. She also often talks about her first visit to the church of the “Power of Positive Thinking” author Rev. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. She unknowingly sat next to his wife and later joined the church’s young adult fellowship group.
“Putting her story box together meant appreciating her life’s challenges and accomplishments in a way I had not previously considered,” added Marylou. “It meant I can share her story more effectively. It also meant that we, as her family, are thankful mom has many happy memories to share with her neighbors and the staff who are caring for her.”
Importance of photos and memory care
Photos trigger long-term memories and prompt reminiscence which is a great activity for individuals experiencing dementia. Seeing albums of the past can evoke feelings of familiarity and is a way for them to share and relive stories, according to Prevention.com. For more tips on interacting and visiting loved ones with dementia, visit our Resource Center.