We understand that COVID-19 and restricted visiting permissions has made it increasingly difficult to make your loved one in assisted living feel included this holiday season. While the safety of our residents and staff continue to be our number one priority, we wanted to help provide fun ways to show your family member love this Thanksgiving.
Send a Letter to Arrive on Thanksgiving
Craft a letter from you and/or your family that expresses your love and how much you miss them. Make sure to include fun thanksgiving related stickers, stationary or even pictures of the family for them to enjoy. If you have kids, have them draw a turkey for their grandparent(s) and include it with the letter. All the special touches will make it feel as if your loved one is with you this Thanksgiving. It will truly brighten their day!
Visit Through The Window
On Thanksgiving, if you are able, visit your loved one through the window of the building. Make sure to call the community beforehand so they know you are coming, but it will be a special way for the senior in your life to feel connected to you. If your loved one has a window to their room, bring window paint/markers and decorate their window for the holidays! Every time they look at it, they will be reminded of how much they are loved and supported during these difficult times.
Drop Off a Thanksgiving Meal
Since family members typically are allowed to visit on Thanksgiving to celebrate with their loved one, we need to find creative ways to still feel like that’s happening. While you can’t visit this year, dropping off part of your Thanksgiving meal for your loved one to enjoy will feel like a slice of family for them! It makes such a huge difference in their day.
Put Together a Family Video
If your loved one is visually impaired or if you simply love putting together family videos, why not put one together for your loved one on Thanksgiving! Collect video messages from each member of your family – even the dog if you wanted! – and put them together into one video. It can even be as easy as each family member saying “Happy Thanksgiving” with a quick message. Once complete, call the community to see who you can send the video to via email and they will be sure to share it on Thanksgiving!
A Classic Phone Call
While utilizing the new features that technology has to offer us is fun, an old fashioned phone call can also do the trick! If you aren’t into making videos or writing cards, just simply give your loved one a ring! Whether planned or unexpected, a call on Thanksgiving to catch up will be sure to make their day!
These are just a few simple, fun ideas to make your loved one in a senior living community feel loved this holiday season. While it’s difficult for everyone involved to have visitation restrictions during this time of the year, we can still find ways to make the senior in our life feel loved. And that’s the best gift of all!
