Chapter 40
CHAPTER 40
Juliet had taken Hettie to see her grandmother. As they were leaving, the warden came out of his office and asked Juliet if she could pop in for a minute.
‘How is Hettie?’ he asked bending over the carrier to look at her. ‘She’s certainly growing. Please sit. Would you like tea?’
‘I’m fine, thank you, I just had some with my mother.’
‘Good, well, I won’t take much of your time,’ said Donato. ‘But we need to have a little talk about Pauline. How did you find her today?’
‘Well, she was very excited to see Hettie, so that was nice.’
‘Did anything unusual strike you?’ asked Donato, a kind but concerned expression on his face.
‘The flat was in a bit of a mess. I assumed the cleaner is due today?’
‘The cleaner was there yesterday. This is why we need to talk. Your mother is a very intelligent woman and she’s in good physical shape, but she’s not managing so well on her own in the flat these days.’
‘Ah,’ said Juliet. The flat hadn’t just been a mess, it was dirty. Quite gross in places. ‘I was going to ask you about getting the cleaner to go in more often.’
‘We’ve already done that. With your mother’s permission, the cleaner goes in every other day now. We had to do it for sanitation reasons, but even that is not enough.’
Juliet understood. He didn’t have to spell it out. There had been something really unpleasant she’d had to clean up in the bathroom. She’d thought it had been one unlucky accident.
‘Can they go in every day?’ she asked. ‘The cleaners? I’ll pay for it, of course. Twice a day if necessary.’
‘I don’t think that’s what your mother needs. I think she needs to be somewhere where all the day-to-day things are looked after for her.’
Juliet looked at him, trying to take it in. What was he saying?
‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘she doesn’t have dementia.’
‘Are you sure? I was actually shocked by the state of the flat.’
‘I think it’s more because of her specific experiences... I don’t think it’s good for Pauline to be on her own so much. She needs stimulation – and distraction. You’ve seen how many newspapers she reads. I think she would benefit greatly from eating her meals with other people and spending her days occupied, doing things in groups. To have activities arranged – art classes, exercise, talks, that kind of thing.’
Donato was being very kind as always, but Juliet was finding the conversation quite hard to process. She thought her mother was really well set up in this flat, where she had her independence but help on hand when she needed it – and it wasn’t too far for Juliet to visit often and for Pauline to come to their house too.
‘There are some new specialist places opening,’ he continued. ‘With a more social form of care. They do things like have a kindergarten on the site, so the residents see young children. Some of them have rooms that students live in at a very reduced rent, in return for spending time with the older people. There might be chickens in the garden and those who want it have areas to plant things. Residents can help in the kitchen, or run the library, so they are all an active part of the community, as much as they are able.
‘She would have her own bedroom and bathroom, but the sitting room and dining room would be communal. I have a brochure for one which I know is very good. It’s the benchmark in this country.’
He handed her a glossy-looking brochure. Juliet read the front. It said The Elms – empathetic social care over a picture of a large Victorian house. She turned the page and there were pictures of older people reading books to toddlers, feeding chickens, digging gardens, painting pictures, doing yoga, eating together. They all looked happy. Maybe that was what Pauline needed. Sitting alone in the flat with all those memories crowding in couldn’t be good for her. Juliet felt stupid for not figuring it out sooner herself.
There were also photographs of some of the bedrooms, which looked okay, and she read that they could take their own furniture with them, which would be good. She also noticed that some of the rooms had sea views – which was nice, but meant it wasn’t in London.
She turned it over to see where it was situated. St Leonardson-Sea, wherever that was. She’d have to go and have a look.