With the permission of his daughter, I want to share our first resident’s story with you, and together with his daughter we hope that it might help someone somewhere. Thank you, Shar’! ( as he lovingly calls her)

Shar’ contacted us some time ago, loving the idea of her father living on the farm in the Annex with us. But the big question was…how will she get her father who has been living with her, to move into our Annex?

After meeting with us a couple of times, she decided  to take him for a drive on a Sunday afternoon passed the farm, just brushing the topic of a “women” developing a nice place here for elders to stay. He didn’t seem too interested at the time…

But two days later I drove passed a little red car with an old man, slowly driving in our area on the main road, and I wondered. Could it be him?

The next day rushing to  the monthly meeting of George Alzheimers group in town, the same little red car was on its way to the entrance of our farm. I asked Johan to stop our car, I had to get out, now! Bewildered he stopped and I got out of our car, forgetting about my meeting, shoved him away to town with my hand, as I walk over to the little red car with an old man sitting in it, staring down the farm road.

Softly I tapped on the window, and as he looked up, two blue eyes looked right into my soul. I asked if  I could get into his car with him to show him where this ‘women’ is developing this Home, and as the true gentlemen he is, he leaned over and opened the door. We drove down the road to the three bedroom Annex, peaked through the windows, walked through the Main House, and with a hug he left me standing with the words. ” I have to go, you took up enough of my time now!” And as he drove off in the little red car, I prayed him all the way home, and then ran home to phone his Shar’ with the news!

That evening he bugged her the whole time to phone that ‘women’ to make an appointment, because he loved the Annex and the farm and he would love to stay there!

We made ‘an appointment’ so that his daughter can come and look at the place he would like to move to…. and we pretended to be strangers when he introduced us to each other!

He made the decision, he chose to move to Jura Care! what more could I ask for, getting our first resident, choosing us!

Three weeks later, Buddy moved into my life!