This is one of my favorite places to hang out in the city of Orange. I discovered the Orange Senior Center a few years ago when I took my dad-in-law to visit. Prior to residing in assisted living and now a board and care home, Dad lived quite independently. Other than hanging out with me (I was his primary caregiver at the time), his buddies at Kiwanis and Mark, his part-time caregiver, Dad didn’t have too much of a social network.
Being the resourceful chick, I investigated the center and just KNEW Dad needed to go. Too sequestered in his home, or so I thought. I mean, who wouldn’t love a bit of bingo then lunch? LAME-O me. We sat among the other seniors for a short time. Let’s just say Dad had better places to be, like his own house, for example.
“These people are too old!” said the 79-year-old man.
“Don’t you think you might wanna give it a chance? We’ve only been here 10 minutes. Can’t we stay long enough to see who wins the next bingo round?” (Like I was gonna miss THAT?)
OK, so Dad didn’t exactly bond with bingo or anything else under the roof that day. I wasn’t going to push. It’s not my style.
That said, I bonded with this place almost immediately. Bingo? Not so much. It was the people. Old people. Old, funny, intelligent people – sharing, conversing, complaining, kvetching, laughing. Just like it is in my house.
That, my friends, was just the beginning of my relationship with the Orange Senior Center. More discoveries happened after that day. Much more.
