Just livin'

Jim McConnell lines up his shot during a game of snooker at Telford House on August 7.

By Bobby Roy

This past week I headed to Telford House, right beside Telford Lake, to grab some pics and interviews for a story about the Telford Day Program.

I was not too sure of what to expect from the small program that was created to provide seniors, who suffer from a lack of mobility and other health concerns, with a structured recreation in a community setting.

I had never been inside Telford House and I had never seen what goes on in a seniors day program.

The only reason I initially wanted to do a story on the Telford Day Program was because a few weeks earlier I had done one on the Beaumont seniors day program and Anne Johnson, the activity coordinator for the program said there was a waiting list for the Leduc one so I thought there could be a story.

When I talked to Wendy Brown, the administrator for the program, she notified me that there was no waiting list and she took the extra six people who wanted to get into the program. I was a little skeptical that there may not even be a story at all, but as I talked to the volunteers and workers at the Telford Day Program there was definitely something there.

Watching the workers interact with the seniors and give them a little bit of joy goes unnoticed by most people and I'm sure that's how the workers like it. A couple of the workers are volunteers who take time out of their day to help make the senior's days more enjoyable.

I could not imagine myself doing a job like that, because I do not have the patience for it.

Not many people do.

That is why these people deserve the recognition that they rarely ever get. It is never an easy job taking care of someone especially when you do not get paid. It is great to see that the world still has people who are very caring and will do anything for their fellow human being, no matter who they are.

Without a day program like this these seniors will likely spend the day sitting in their home alone watching television. The program gives these seniors a chance to interact with each other, get some well needed exercise and for the most part have fun.

Without fun what the heck is the point of living? No matter how old having any sort of fun will make life worth living even if it is just for a little while.

The program runs on Mondays and Fridays at Telford House and the program is currently supporting 16 seniors. The program was meant for 10, but Brown decided it was best to take them all in.

“When people have a stroke or something similar like that they lose the motivation, so we try to provide something in which people who experience problems like that can come out and have fun,” said Brown.

The seniors get to play shuffleboard, pool, lift weights and interact with each other. It's good to see them out and about rather than shut-in at their homes.

People tend to forget about our seniors and how they deserve to have just as much fun as the younger generation.

It's always good to have eye openers once in a while.