Mrs. Jaski prefers to be called Simone: “That ‘madam this, madam that’ all the time, just call me Simone.” She had just sat down in the public area with a friend from the nursing home when NH passed by. “I would like to go to my room for the interview, but he has to come with me.”
Jaski, or Simone, likes to chat. Once in her apartment, she talks about her three brothers whom she loves: “and they love me.” One lives on the other side of the world, in Australia. Another is in a wheelchair. That’s why she doesn’t see them often. But her niece still visits regularly.
Perils
She talks about her dog with whom she always took long walks in the woods and about the vicissitudes in the nursing home. There are kind caregivers, less kind caregivers, the breakfast is (sometimes) good and friendly, but also less friendly people live there. She’s going through something there.
She had to say goodbye to a lot of loved ones. But there is one thing she will never say goodbye to: her grooming. Every morning and evening she treats her skin with an anti-wrinkle cream, she combs her hair (first forward, then back for some extra formula) and she ‘removes her age spots’ with powder. She is, as Generation Z would now say, a real ‘queen’. And that at the age of 99.
Almost 100
“I want to continue like this for another 20 years,” says Jaski while brushing her curly hair. In any case, she still feels fit enough, even though standing apart from her walker is becoming increasingly difficult.
Her memory is also slowly starting to fail her. She will turn 100 on June 1, ‘or was it June 16?’. How will she celebrate? “Oh, I wouldn’t know. Probably just here, in the nursing home. But no one comes.” It will be a big surprise for her when her brother from Australia, who is also very elderly, will come to visit her on June 16.
In the video below we interview Simone via a ‘get ready with me’ (GRWM). Do you know someone with whom we should do a GRWM? Let us know via [email protected].
