Recently we watched "*batteries not included"... an
amusing & rather touching film about a group of people under pressure
from a developer who wants the land they're living on.  As fiction
generally does, it requires the willing suspension of disbelief.  I think
congratulations are due to the scriptwriter & director, however, for
their thumbnail sketch of the alternative arrangement an older couple has
chosen.  The audience sees only a glimpse of a glossy brochure advertising
"XYZ Manor", while the husband comments that it's in a
neighbouring state.  These details tell me all I need to know about the
place... [wry grin].

           Meanwhile, the man he's speaking to is in a quandary... as I
imagine some folks here are... because his wife [substitute mother, father,
or whatever else applies] is showing signs of dementia & he's not sure
what to do about it. Should they move to "XYZ Manor" too??  He
throws a call out to the universe for help, and help comes in a completely
unanticipated form.  Although it's a "deus ex machina" solution
it's heartwarming & witty.  The scenario is fairly true to life in
other ways, at any rate, and touches on a lot of important issues.

           I was reminded, for example, of how my mother concluded some
decades ago that when she became widowed she'd move to the "ABC
Home"... partly because one of her friends lived there.  Then she
wanted me to arrange for my father to go to "Ritzy Manor"...
partly because one of her friends lived there!  I notice other folks
thinking along similar lines.  But it makes about as much sense, in some
cases, as expecting the maternity hospital to fix a broken leg because the
patient knows somebody of the same gender who speaks well of the place.... 
:-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+