Interview with Courtyard Gardens - Verve Senior Living resident, Shirley Bakaway

I’m a longtime Richmond resident, and I had checked out an awful lot of facilities when my husband was still alive, but unfortunately, he got ill and wouldn’t be accepted by too many. We had sold the house in January of that year, and my husband just slowly got sicker and ended up that he wouldn’t be eligible to come to Courtyard Gardens. We had a very good social worker through the health department, and they got him into the brand new Hamilton Village Care Centre. I moved all my furniture into here, but I stayed with my daughter on Andrews Road for three months just to make sure that Mike was going to be okay. So I moved in here in September of 2020.

I can’t tell you how much the staff and the residents have meant to me. It’s a safe feeling being here. I felt like I had support. I have three daughters who give me fantastic support, but when the people around you, where you’re living, where you’re being looked after, are there for you, it’s a very, very nice feeling. And that’s why I’m here.

We had moved all the furniture and everything, the boxes and everything, in June, but I didn’t move until September. I had to go into isolation for 14 days when I first came here. Because I was in that isolation, the people at Hamilton had me on FaceTime with Mike, and that was nice. I also could FaceTime with my daughters. So that was great. It gave me time to unload and unpack and sort of figure out what I was going to do. So it was pretty nice.

It was very warm and welcoming. My neighbor Eva, it turned out that we grew up in the same area of East Vancouver, and that was really nice. There was a lady that lived here, and I knew she was here, Irene, and she was welcoming, of course, and another lady that I knew through hockey. I had a very welcoming experience.

The first two weeks were a little different because of isolation. The following week I went to visit my husband, and we had to wear masks and all that, same as here. But when I came back, I got a phone call that they had had an outbreak. So I went to management, and Anna at the time was the LPN in charge of everybody, and I told them what had happened. I said I would feel better if I was put in isolation again because I would feel horrible if I was bringing that here. They thanked me, and the people that were coming to the rooms with their meals were really good. One of them was a singer, and he always had a good song for you. So it was not bad.

What I like about it is that we’re not assigned a certain table. When I finally got down to having meals in the dining room, I got to know a lot of the residents. I participate in a lot of the recreation activities here and thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy it.

We get exercise-type classes every day of the week except Saturday and Sunday. Each one has their own unique way of presenting, and most of it is chair activities or exercises, and that was great. There’s a game we play on Saturday mornings, and it’s called Roll the Trump. It’s fun, and lots of laughs, and none of us are very good at it, and we just enjoy the fact that, whoa, you got a 10. It’s those kinds of things that go on here that keep you pretty occupied. I used to be a reader. I pick up a book out of our library. I hardly have time to read, so I’m just too active.

There’s the library, and there is certainly a large selection of books. A lot of them are large print, which people of our age have trouble with seeing, and anyway, it’s a great asset to have that.

We have what we call the Dogwood Room, and that’s where the exercises, where the Roll the Trump, where our happy hour, where everything pretty well is done in there for groups. I happen to have a two-bedroom suite because it was going to be Mike and I, but I so enjoy having the two bedrooms because I have a daughter in Nanaimo and I have a daughter in Kelowna. When they come to visit, they’ve got a bed to stay in. So I like that.

We have what we call the Dogwood Room, and that’s where the exercises, where the Roll the Trump, where our happy hour, where everything pretty well is done in there for groups. I happen to have a two-bedroom suite because it was going to be Mike and I, but I so enjoy having the two bedrooms because I have a daughter in Nanaimo and I have a daughter in Kelowna. When they come to visit, they’ve got a bed to stay in. So I like that.

All the exercise classes, we have trivia, we have a giant crossword on Mondays, and we play cribbage on Monday night. We have a gentleman come in on Thursday morning, and he does Tai Chi, which, like I said, everybody in those exercises because they’re all different. I just had chair yoga this morning that was done visually, on a video anyway. I like Roll the Trump best, but the gentleman that teaches Tai Chi is pretty, pretty wonderful.

Because of where we are situated, we’re right across from the track, and I’m one that loves to go for a walk. I find the sidewalks are very uneven, and I’m always watching my feet, so if I walk over to the track, it’s an even surface. Also, the senior centre and the pool, it’s all over there.

We’re close to the mall, and for people that are from Richmond, when you point out where they’re situated and how close we are to facilities outside of Courtyard Gardens, and then tell them what you have as activities here, to me, it’s just a good thing.

I searched this out four or five years ago because I wanted to sell my house and I wanted something like this. I checked other ones in the area. I wanted to stay in Richmond. I just feel if I was telling somebody, I would say, look where you’re going to be. This is what they offer. The rooms are good, and the bathrooms are a fantastic size. If you’re using a walker or a wheelchair, the washrooms are ideal.

I just feel that the location and the rooms are excellent. We’ve had new siding put on and new windows, and just recently all the carpets got cleaned. It’s just a good place for women, mostly. It’s a break from cooking and buying groceries, and in this day and age, I’m glad I don’t have to be buying the groceries.

Lauren, our food manager, has been doing pretty good, keeping the variety, and I don’t think you’ll find anybody complaining about the food or the service in the dining room. When you get up in the morning, you go down for breakfast, you sit down and the girl is pouring your coffee, pouring your juice that you always like and the marmalade, and it’s all there.

The people that work here are just fantastic. They are very warm and always complimentary. They have patience on the job because not all of us are as easy to please, and I really think they’re wonderful. One housekeeper in particular scolded me for using the stairs, and I said, why? She said the stairs are enclosed, and nobody can know if you fall unless you’re wearing your bracelet. She said she was only going to let me, or recommend that I use the stairs, only if I wore that bracelet. So that’s what I say. People here, even the housekeeping staff, are good.

Nothing. I’d lost my husband—he lasted a year out at Hamilton. But a lot of people here have also lost their partners, and you feel free that you can talk about it.

That, to me, was really important. At the same time, I know that others here are also missing their spouses. It’s a community feeling. We’re all in the same boat. It’s nice. They’re your family. They’re out there, they’re interested. We don’t have designated tables to sit at. I love that, although Eva and I usually are together.