Adèle Uijtdewilligen (78) has lived in the Amarant nursing home in Tilburg for sixty years. And so it’s Wednesday party: “This doesn’t happen often. Especially people with intellectual disabilities don’t often live that old,” says her carer.
‘Long will she live in the Gloria’, sings Adèle’s personal supervisor Lotte Kentie, as she arrives with a large cream cake. On the cake is of course a large photo of Adèle and all plates with 60 on it. The radiant centerpiece is in a large chair, decorated with a tiara and a necklace with all the same signs: ‘Hooray! 60’.
“We sometimes find a cookie under her pillow.”
Adèle lives with a group of older residents in a residential area in the west of Tilburg. According to Lotte she sets the mood in the group: “She is a very cheerful and occasionally naughty lady. Then she secretly grabs something delicious from the kitchen and hides it in her room, to be able to eat it later. We sometimes find a biscuit or a piece of fruit under her pillow.”
Her brother André sits next to Adèle. During his visit, she holds his hand all the time. “Such a sweet girl, such a sweet child. I love her very much,” he says endearingly. He lives with his wife in the north of the country, they visit every three weeks.
Adèle was born without disabilities, André explains: “When she was little, she was a brilliant girl. But she has developed jaundice and that can cause brain damage in some cases. Doctors offered to operate, but there was a risk that it would fail, that she would go completely mad or die. Then my father decided not to have the surgery performed.”
“We were allowed to stay an hour and no longer.”
Adèle was cared for by her parents until she was seventeen. After that, since 1962, she lives in a care home. The visit was different then than it is now, André recalls: “We were put in a very small room, with one table and three chairs. We were allowed to sit there for an hour and no longer. Then there was a knock at the door that we had to leave.”
André promised his parents before they passed away that he would continue to take good care of his sister. He thinks it’s fantastic that she has been able to reach such a high age: “She is happy here, with these carers.”
“Buu-kom,” Adele shouts. “Yes, you can go outside in no time”, says André: “This means that she wants to come with the car.” She moves her index finger over her tongue: “She also wants an ice cream”, André laughs. “I understand every single thing about her.” Adèle waves to her guests. We understand that too. The cake is gone and so is the patience: she wants to go outside with her family.
