The Season's of Talladega Assisted Living

mac17

The nursing home looks very nice from the road, however when you approach the entrance you notice a fence and gate surrounding the facility porch. However, I noticed several residents opening the gate, and wondered what purpose it served. When I walked in the door, it smelled strongly of urine. Patients were lining the halls or wandering about. I was there to volunteer and it did seem that the staff was very busy trying to get a lot of the residents to participate, even the ones that were in their rooms. It didn't seem like the residents had much interaction with the nurses, they were often caught up in paperwork at the nurses station and didn't seem to pay much attention to the patients, but were glad when we arrived to do an activity with them. All the walls and decorations were also very drab and not stimulating, however I did notice that some residents had decorated their own rooms and they looked a little more cozy.

Kayla Borden

The first time I visited Seasons of Talladega, I was about 3. I don't remember much about it, just that my father kept shaking the nurses hands and saying thank you. My great-grandmother and lived and died there, for all of the short time that I knew her. So my first memories of Seasons wasn't actually a happy one. Yet my mother would go on and on about how nice the nurses where and how they made the best of our bad situation. When I got older, I sang in my church choir, and we would tour nursing homes on sundays. Seasons of Talladega had become my personal favorite. The people were so happy to see us, and the staff was so sweet. They would even let us go into the rooms were the very old and sick where to sing them into good spirits. Being in the bible belt, most patients shared our beliefs in a higher power and even those how didn't would still get a smile from a tune. Of all the places we visited, none of them saw what we did as a calling but Seasons. The staff is completely understanding to the elders needs and treat them with the upmost respect. I was always welcomed with open arms when I would visit to walk the grounds and sit with patients I had befriended. The grounds were well kept, and even though it is a relatively small nursing home many of the patients where always out with the nurses soaking up sunshine. It wasn't a scary or sad place, but a place full of love and understanding. Seasons of Talladgea, isn't like many nursing homes. Seasons' isn't the place people go when they have given up, it is where they go when they need hope.