chairs

I'm feeling a bit guilty.  They took away the ability to sit comfortably outside at my brothers nursing home.  It started last fall, when they tore up the front entrance, which used to have a lot of benches and chairs.  The patients would sit outside and watch the cars come and go, dropping off and picking up people.  It wasn't exactly beautiful, but there was a sense of activity.

Apparently some people fell because the concrete was on a slant.  There was also a problem with people "wandering" off the property.  So they dug it up, and supposedly they are building a side courtyard which looks like it might be pleasant, but it's walled in with a locked gate.  Meanwhile, it's not done and the weather if finally getting warm.

My brother is a bit stir crazy after being shut in for long periods of time during the winter, so he has been sitting out in front, using his walker as a chair.  Several people have been doing it, and another patient recently fell.  It could be argued easily that providing chairs is safer than having people sit in their walkers, which are not designed for long term sitting, and after all, have wheels on them.  The new "garden" is supposed to open May 20, not soon enough.

My brother is not new to falling.  Several years ago, I came to the conclusion that is was better for him to take risks and be willing to fall, and possibly severely hurt himself (he has broken bones, and believe me, it is no joke to break a bone when you have cerebral palsy and don't heal well or quickly) than to stuck in a wheel chair or inside.  He totally agrees with me. 

Meanwhile, the reason I feel guilty is that I am supposed to call the person in charge and complain, and try to persuade her to put  few chairs out in front.  I keep on forgetting to do it, I get busy at work and I don't do it.  I need to remember to do it tomorrow.