I've been here in Florence for nearly a week and it wasn't until the day of hospital discharge did I finally take a photo of the plaquard guarding the entry to Mom's Room Number Twelve. The Lotus owners had donated money to the construction of the hospital and my mother's room was named after Lotus. The Lotus was a quite good, big, almost banquet style Chinese Restaurant that sat on the riverfront on our mighty Siuslaw from the late eighties to early two thousands. Tony and Ivy built an enormous house further up the river that I used to admire as I ran up Rhododendron towards my parents home. Tony and Ivy closed the restaurant and left town years ago. Mom, in classic form, sort of grunted and rolled her eyes when I alerted her to the fact that she was in the Lotus Room. This is a topic worthy of a single post, given my audience. Given time, I might go by the old building (still up for auction) and get a shot of the Lotus itself.
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| Chinese Food, Drinks, Dancing, all at the Lotus |
And then on to Mom's newest residence. I pulled up for a visit and tour before her arrival and was satisfied that this is the best place for her right now. In fact, I must comment on the parking lot! Oregon cars. We love bumper stickers, so here we have three cars in a row sporting some sort of decal messaging. Most likely belonging to the employees of the Nursing Home.
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| Raider Nation |
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| parent of soldier...etc. etc.. |
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| "Women Make Good Leaders, You're Following One" & "I Ran Into My Ex....So I Backed up and Hit Him Again" |
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| "nonegenarian for peace" |
On to the fancy Assisted Living Home in town. It's right across the street from the hospital and around the corner from Greentrees. No brainer, right? Not so simple, but we're working on it, ever so slowly. Peter says I should put ultimatums forth. Do as I say or I'm outta here. Easy for him to say, he's a man, obviously.
But I was on a roll, touring the homes in town. So after one facility I hauled it over to the other for another investigative trip. Here, in the parking lot, another sight to behold, a great banana colored car.
Back in the seventies when I hung out here, everybody drove cars like this one.
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| Bonneville. Yeah, Baby. |
I profess to miss the old Florence, and I do, most of the time, but then again, back then
we didn't have a terrific senior services, providing Florence award winning quality of life for seniors, year after year. So these modern developments are good for my family.
Sadly, the construction of this fancy schmancy residence involved massive deforestation, clearing of wild rhododendrons, sea pines, and salal shrubs. Moved sand and bear and other habitat.
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| Old Florence. |
Nothing like a day in Oregon for spotting alternative forms of transportation. I've said it before and will say it again. A ride like this in Eugene or Portland never comes as a surprise, but in old blue collar/retirement village Florence it's always worth the double take. If you look close enough you can see this guy's coffee cup holder. 
This weekend marked the first field trip for Mom away from Regency. Where would she like to go? The Elks Club, naturally. Dinner, drinks, and the Norwoods playing music. It was a delightful evening, and just about time for Scott and Ann to head back east. If it weren't for Ann's experience providing support for a wheel chair Mama, the night might have been a little more rough. Ann's a real pro, and next week it's my turn. And then a few more phone calls, a few meaningful conversations with the decision making parties, and poof! Scott and Ann are ready to exit to Eugene, then back home. We stop at Nature's Garden for some yummy healthy Oregon hippie food and that's all she wrote. 
