A question of motivation

On Tuesdays, the exercise is done by a certain Paco, who is much more energetic than the other instructors. Last week after an hour long session, I found Mr. Reel very tired and not very motivated to go out.

But it turns out... Everybody needs a little motivation! And one of the things that get Mr. Reel going is, we all know it, jazz.

So after the exercising, we left for the concert. I did not hear Mr. Reel say once that he was tired. Although the cab ride was a little long to his taste (about 20 minutes), he assured me that it was worth it. The concert took place in a church in Harlem.

The music was great. I could see Mr. Reel's head and feet moving with the beat. Four musicians were playing: a French horn player, a pianist, a bassist and a drummer.

After the first set that lasted an hour, we went to have some lunch (I had brought some sandwich). We sat in a little room were people started eating, and the musicians joined; Mr. Reel seemed a little intimidated! He told me that this was certainly a first. 

We stayed for almost the whole second set, but Mr. Reel got tired so we took a cab back. We talked about how great the concert was and what a good time we had.

Habits

Everyone has habits. They are an important part of our lives. As we grow old, those habits become rituals at the center of every day's life. They offer people a frame; they know what they will be doing every day and there is no fear of boredom. Habits also help people maintain their identity; they are so familiar that they become a part of the person, reminding them of who they are.

Mr. Reel has his habits too! Let's have a little quizz about them:

- what does Mr. Reel eat in the morning? Answer: bacon, sausage and coffee

- what does Mr. Reel do every morning at 10am?   Answer: Exercising 

- what does Mr. Reel get everyday at 4pm?   Answer: a glass of white wine

- what TV channel does Mr. Reel watch for news?   Answer: CNN

- what newspaper does Mr. Reel read everyday?    Answer: The New York Times

- what does Mr. Reel say to the aides when they leave in the evening?   Answer: "Thanks for stopping by!"

- what does Mr. Reel drink with his meals?   Answer: water

A reassuring routine does not mean a boring everyday life; tons of fun activities await Mr. Reel!

Food for thoughts

Today has been a day full of mental stimulation for Mr. Reel! As he is a curious man interested in many different things and not hesitating to ask questions, it can only be called a good day!

Early in the morning, after having breakfast and before going to exercise, Mr. Reel has the habit of watching CNN. Watching the news is a great way to keep one's mind sharp, but also to be correctly oriented in time. Today one of the main topics was Hillary Clinton's candidacy. We talk about politics and his opinion about various politicians. He then asks me about the political system in France, i explained and he made a few clever comparisons with the USA.

After exercising (a healthy mind in a healthy body!), we play a little game; I show Mr. Reel pictures of famous monuments and he has to find where they're located on a world map. That's a lot of fun! We discuss the monument and its meaning, what we know about the different countries... I learned a lot, I hope Mr. Reel did too! He definitely knows the map pretty well and has great visual skills. He always seems to find pleasure in learning something, which is a great quality!

After lunch, we go downstairs to watch a great documentary about Jack Johnson, a black boxer from the 1910s. The themes as boxing of course, but also racism, violence, and ambition; Mr. Reel stares at the big screen and nods once in while. The documentary lasts for an hour and a half but Mr. Reel's attention does not seem to fail. Having to be attentive for a long time is a great exercise; attention and memory are linked, and training attention skills is only beneficial to memory.

What is better than a little concert to relax at the end of a full day? After all, emotions have to be stimulated too! 

Embedding Meaning Into Activities

I happened to come by on the day it was Nikia's birthday so today's activities were mostly centered on stimulating activities that were purposeful for the birthday. But first, Mr. Reel is not used to me coming by so the first thing we did was listen to music. Music is a powerful gift that can bring peace to the mind as it relaxes the defenses and clears away stress barriers from one's thoughts. 

Each time I met with him in the past, Mr. Reel would easily pick out Miles Davis as one of his favorite jazz artists. But there was another man's name that he could not as easily recall this morning. Still, the sweet melody of Miles Davis filled the room and he bowed his head as he listened. During the middle of the song, Mr. Reel announced, "Duke Ellington!" 

I offered to play something of Duke Ellington but Mr. Reel had another type of music on his mind. After a bit of tumble words between us, he realized he was thinking about country music. "Which country?" I asked. "Romance? Pop? Rock?" 

"Rock," he said with certainty. Jason Aldean's "Hicktown" began to play and after a couple minutes of that, Mr. Reel smiled and announced, "Hank Williams!" And once Hank came streaming through the speakers, Mr. Reel was tapping his foot, nodding his head, and singing along to "Jambalaya." 

And so music is a powerful activity in that it relaxes a person and opens his or her willing mind to other thoughts and memories. 

We stopped the music to go to exercise class which we attended together. That was actually a great class performed by a professional yoga teacher. It was nice hearing some of the residents joke around, purposely making funny breathing noises as they followed instruction. Some people truly are forever young. 

After exercise, I reminded Mr. Reel that he will be picked up at 4:30pm for Nikia's birthday dinner and so we should prepare in advance since we are also taking the Atria bus trip to the Met for a couple of hours after lunch. So we picked up a nice, light-colored summer outfit but at the last minute, he said he wanted to wear the Hawaiian shirt. It's a very nice Hawaiian shirt, and actually called an Aloha shirt by Hawaii locals (I'm from Hawaii). Amusingly enough, local never say Hawaiian shirt and never put pineapple in a pizza.

We had a lot of time to have lunch and select flowers and a birthday card. At the flower stand, I asked Mr. Reel to look at each bunch of flowers and select what he thinks would make a nice gift for his daughter. He humorously said, "She doesn't like anything I buy for her but okay!" He selected the only bunch that had a yellow flower in it. 

The museum visit was last on the agenda and Mr. Reel was more fascinated by the human sculptures than anything else. In one exhibition, a sculpted head is missing its nose. Mr. Reel put his dukes up and playfully growled, "What you got? What you got?" 

"Hold that thought!" I said and snapped the pic. 

Bonjour!

Knowing that I come from France, Mr. Reel spontaneously and very nicely offered this morning to go to a French restaurant. So we went to the French Roast, located a few blocks from the Atria. Mr. Reel is curious and asks questions; we chatted about France, about the differences between the countries, while sitting outside in perfect rather. On the menu: French onion soup with a croque-monsieur (bread+ham+cheese). Bon appétit!

Jazz

We took some quiet time to look through a book about jazz; Mr. Reel tried to recognize famous musician on the pictures. He knew a lot of them, and we listen to some music from the ones he did not know. He talked about his love for jazz and said he regretted "not going to even more concerts!". Well, the good thing is; it's not too late! NYC still has a lot of great jazz to offer, and Mr. Reel will be there for it!

Current Events Highlight

Mr. Reel was a part of many activities today. As soon as I arrived this morning, he requested for the daily program and we began planning his busy day. Exercise first, every morning! The rhythm of the day was pretty fast! We had some time before lunch so we tidied up his apartment. He made the decisions as to where things would go. In the afternoon, we took a walk around the neighborhood and along Riverside park. Then it was time for the activities planning meeting, where the activities of the next month are explained. Mr. Reel arrived prepared with his agenda. After that came Current Events (which he certainly didn't want to miss), where news is discussed. He didn't get involved but followed what the others said with great interest. The debate got a little heated up and Mr. Reel then told me that after hearing all that, he "surely deserved a glass of wine!"

-E.H.