We want to say hello to my
guests.
We have Crystal Lycan.
Right?
Am I right?
Crystal Lycan.
You might there.
I should have learned that after
54 years of radio turned on
the mic.
Okay.
Crystal Lycan, the executive
director in Anthony Ellsson,
whose community relations for
Parkview Gardens, located on
Douglas Avenue in Caledonia.
Right?
It's not right.
It's not right.
It's not right.
It's not right.
It's not right.
It's not right.
It's not right.
It's not right.
I mean, that's Qiu
and do you date with
him whenever one person spoke
out into this?
Which is Caledonia, right
plant?
Yes.
Caledonia?
I never know the dividing
line between receding
Caledonia.
Right.
I mean, I could step here.
I mean, Caledonia,行
Vallahiseay, a work for the
police department in Caledonia.
And I said, you sure you
are¬sinn Racine if you
suddenly says no.
It's Caledonia, okay, so
parkview gardens want you
give a just a little run
down of what it is.
I'm going to discuss.
We did a topic the other day
with the Racine County
Traffic Safety Commission
and it was older drivers
and when it's time to take
the keys away.
Now luckily my mother said
here it is.
I don't want to drive
anymore anyway.
So it was real simple.
She didn't want to drive
and it worked out well.
A lot of parents, you know,
and I'm up there in age
too.
We just feel like, oh, I
know what I'm doing.
Don't you tell me how to
I can drive?
Well, the same thing comes,
you know, what parents have
been living on their own,
their entire lives.
They've had their houses.
They raised their kids.
But people slow down.
And I don't know, I think
it would be great to be in
an apartment and assisted
living with people who help
me out all the time.
Oh, look at them lazy.
I don't need them.
I'm just a lazy person.
So describe parkview gardens.
So we are, like I said,
assisted living and memory
care facility here,
Racine, Caledonia area.
So with us, we offer a couple
of different things.
So for assisted living,
it is going to be your own
apartment unit.
So you get to decorate it.
However, you would like.
We have studios,
one bedrooms and two bedrooms.
And then we are going to provide,
you know, with three meals a day,
activities every day,
whether it's going to be art
projects.
Bingo is very popular.
A lot of live music coming
in and out of our buildings.
We also do field trips to the
Kenosha Public Museum.
We just went.
Some of our residents are going
to go to a brewer's game.
So.
How do I get signed up for this?
Right.
So what we try to do, especially
for assisted living, you know,
it's, it's your own space.
You know, you're free to come
and go as you please.
Do as you want.
We're just here for that little
extra help that you need.
What kind of a system?
When you say assisted living.
You know,
you know,
you're free to come and go as you
please do as you want.
We're just here for that little
extra help that you need.
What kind of a system?
When you say assisted living.
What is the assisting part?
So it could be with
medication management.
So say something needs help
doing giving their meds every day.
Some people may need help
with showering,
toileting, maybe just daily
reminders on hey,
this is going on this time.
Help setting up doctors appointments.
We have two nurses that are in our
buildings.
That's good Friday.
That's good.
You know,
I used to do my mother
and father's pillbox.
A little pill caddy.
Yeah.
And we graduated from first.
The pill caddy was one
law seven days.
Then the pill caddy was
divided into two morning
and I then the pill caddy was
divided into three
seconds.
And I used to fill it up for
them,
because they had a lot of pills.
And I said,
I can't believe you guys are
taking six pills a day.
He said,
I can't believe I'm up
to seven.
I've become my,
now some of those
vitamins,
but still I said,
whoa,
when did they become my
mother and father?
It does creep up on you.
Without,
without even thinking about
all of a sudden,
you got a pill caddy
with three,
three categories.
And you're filling it up
with all kinds of pills.
Again, my,
most of my
vitamins,
but I still have pills in
there that I need to take.
And I had to do it
for my parents,
because although I told you my
mother, 92,
she was still on Facebook,
Twitter,
and fixing cable boxes
and doing all that kind
of stuff in her apartment.
I had a reminder to take
the pills.
Yeah.
And because it's not
something she,
you know,
because I always,
I always did it for her,
but I did,
that she lived by herself.
Right.
And with my dad,
it was lucky my mom was
there,
because he could never
have lived by himself.
He couldn't do it.
So there comes a time
and you make the decision.
Now,
do you find the children
of the parents make the
decisions?
How does this work?
I think it depends
where somebody is at
in their stage.
I think,
um,
with memory care.
So in a memory care,
we have a memory care too.
Now, what,
what is the memory care?
So memory care is going to
be different where memory care
think of people with,
you know,
dementia,
Alzheimer's,
people that are no longer
can make decisions for themselves,
where they're no longer safe.
Um,
being in an environment
where they could come and go.
So memory care facilities
are going to be secured units,
um,
where people are going to get
more one-on-one care
that they need,
um,
just because, you know,
the mind has started to go
a little bit more.
How do you know that?
You know,
when you hang around
your parents all the time,
if it's slowly creeping up on you,
I mean,
everybody forgets.
People walk into a room.
I don't care how old you are.
You say,
what am I doing here?
People, that happens to a lot of people.
That's,
it's just, you don't know what,
you know,
how do I get here?
Where are my glasses?
Where are my keys?
People do forget that.
When you're 20 years old,
you do forget where you put your keys.
How do you know
when it's time?
Where do you just know?
Um,
I think it just depends.
It depends on if the children
of the people that we're looking at,
um,
can say, hey,
like, be realistic with it.
Otherwise,
some of them are not.
And it usually takes, like,
them moving into assisted living
for the employees of that assisted living
to kind of go through that
with their children.
I had to put my mom in rehab
after she had some
pacemaker stuff done.
And again,
I told you,
in 92, she was
all there.
And one day I come in
and there's candy
all over her nightstand
at the,
at the place where she was
rehabbing.
So it's got the candy
from.
We had a song contest.
Those idiots didn't know
one song.
I should have called.
So,
see,
that's why she would have
got frustrated with all this.
And I said, you got, like,
50 pieces of candy.
You said, they didn't know
any of the songs.
I knew them all.
But my mother's the exception,
I think, at 92.
I don't think, you know,
she's no longer with us.
But at, you know, she knew
what was going on around her.
A lot of people
don't.
My father didn't.
And luckily my mother was
there.
My father.
I would tell him.
He would say,
how many grandchildren
I have?
I said, you got four.
What are their names?
I tell them.
And he said,
how many grandchildren do I have?
And he asked the same question
over and over.
And he knew he was
asking the same question.
I know.
I forgot.
But what are their names again?
Mm-hmm.
And I broke my heart.
Because my dad was,
you know, four years
during World War II
and the Navy.
And the Singles
flying cross metal
commendations.
And here I am.
He can't remember his
grandchildren's name.
And it bothered me.
But luckily my mother,
if my mother wasn't there,
I would have to find
a place to live for him.
Right.
Because he couldn't
take care of himself
at that point.
And I think that's where,
like places like
Barfew Gardens come in.
When you just,
you look at your parents
and you say,
and you, as the children,
you got to have a job.
You got your own family.
You can't be here 24-7.
But you can go visit
your mom and dad.
Yeah.
When you have time.
And not when they have an
emergency.
Right.
So that's kind of good.
So give me the sections here.
I'm looking at them
while I was looking at them
for my phone died.
Okay.
You've got a whole bunch
of sections here.
We have the independent living,
assistant living,
and memory care.
Now independent living.
That's just you got an apartment.
And you're living on your own.
It's just like any apartment.
Yes.
Yep.
Yep.
Just have to be 55 and older.
So yeah.
There's no like care involved
or anything like that.
It's just your own.
A lot of parties on weekends
and stuff like that.
Yeah.
Noise.
Please turn it down.
Okay.
That's that.
Then you've got the assisted
living section.
And just quit.
Chris, people are turning into
that in the morning.
There's waking up and turning
on it.
So the assisted living part is
you provide.
There were some nurses there
in case you need them.
No management.
You said.
Yeah.
Meals.
Meals.
Yep.
Three meals a day every day.
What are you serving?
That's pretty good.
We got it.
55.
We got the
nutritionists that will prepare
all the meals for our residents.
I'm not nutritious.
I can get that out.
I want good days to know.
Hey, great.
You go ahead.
I'm sorry for your.
Oh, no.
No, no.
Yes.
Like the meals.
We're going to have off for
social activities every day for
residents.
I like what?
I think so.
We'll see bingo arts projects.
Live music.
We have a lot.
We're coming up.
We're going to have our kick off
the summer bash.
So that's for our residents,
but also for their family and
their friends that come in,
hang out, you know, we'll have
food, drinks, games.
We got a dunk tank.
Yeah.
Really?
Yeah.
So we try to do a lot for
residents to make sure that,
you know, they're getting a lot
of social stimulation as well.
Just because you do see some people
when they do move to assisted
living, you know, they were
living on their own.
Maybe only talking to scary.
It is.
And they may have only been
talking to, you know, their kids.
And now when you kind of move into
that assisted living environment,
there's people always around.
There's always people doing
something.
There's always going to be somebody
to hang out with to kind of get
that social aspect back in people's
life.
It's like being in the army.
You got food three times a day.
You got medical care.
You got people waiting you up in
the morning.
Right.
Sort of like being in the middle
there.
Without the guns.
Right.
Okay.
So if somebody just wants a tour,
they just interested that they
don't want any high pressure.
They just want to walk in.
I want to see what this is all
about because people have their
preconceived notions.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
And it's not the military.
It's not.
They don't have gun turrets and
stuff all over the place.
So how do they do this?
So the best way to kind of set
up a tour, you'd set it up with me
would be my direct line.
So if people call 262-295-0241,
give me a call.
We'll figure out a time to do a
tour.
Tours usually lasts around an hour.
And I can be very flexible.
Tours will usually do Monday through
Friday.
And then times could vary depending
on what somebody's schedule is
going to look like.
But we'll go around, see the
community, see some of our
available rooms.
And then you know, answer any
questions or concerns that the
family might have.
And you can actually go to the
website too.
All the phone numbers are on
there because people think,
what are these things?
Yeah, I can't remember.
I can't remember my own phone
number, which I sometimes can't
remember my own phone number because
I just, I don't call myself.
So just go to the website, the
website, just Google Parkview
Gardens were seen on
Caledonia.
Yep.
So there is an inquiry form on
our website.
So you just submit a form, see
which, if you're interested in
independent, assisted or memory
care.
And then you know, I'll reach out
and try to set something up for
a tour or just, if somebody just
has questions and just wants to
talk to.
And again, this is tough.
This is not an easy thing for
kids to do to the
because your parents, you know,
especially growing up.
My mom and dad, they ran the
show.
I went on vacation.
Everything was paid for.
Everything was set up.
They drove us wherever we had to
go.
They took care of everything.
They were all the bills were
paid.
And now, you know, I think I knew
when there was a problem.
My sister along with her visit
my parents in Florida.
They were, they're New Yorkers,
but they, like every New Yorker,
they go to Florida, the
retire.
They went down there.
And my sister along said,
your dad is kind of slipping
and he paid all the bills.
Bills haven't been paid in six
months.
There's a whole ton of them here.
I said, send them to me in a box.
And I'll talk to the
credit card companies.
And they didn't want to talk to
me because I'm not the person
on the thing.
Right.
And I said, here's your choice.
You talk to me.
You get your money.
Don't talk to me.
Go take a 90-year-old woman
to court.
See how you do with the jury.
They talk to me.
Yeah.
And so we, I paid everybody
off with no interest.
I said, I'm not going to pay
interest on this.
No interest.
You'll get your money 100%
of it guaranteed.
And I did.
But that's when I knew.
When six months of, I have
never seen that happen with them.
They were always paying their
bills.
The men that they came in.
So they were tell-tale signs.
Right.
When, you know, things start to
slip a little bit.
You notice things aren't getting
done at home.
Maybe the garbage hasn't been
taken out for a while.
Yeah.
Maybe the shopping hasn't been
done for a while.
Maybe misdocters appointments.
I mean, it gets kind of scared
when I saw that box of bills
come in.
I said, these bills are over
six months old.
Oh.
You know, again, I had a deal
with all this.
Right.
And I said to my mother, I am
controlling the checkbook.
All the bills are going to come
to me when I changed the address.
Eventually, she moved to
Racine.
It got too much.
I was traveling to Florida way
too much.
I'm not a big Floridian type of
person.
It was hot down there.
But, anyway, so they moved
here.
And, you know, there comes a
time.
And it's not a bad thing.
It's a good thing.
I mean, you have peace of mind.
And people love these places.
They make new friends.
And my mother got her own
apartment here with my dad.
She met new friends.
And they became good friends
for the rest of her life.
You know, they just, you know,
they make new people.
Right.
So that's kind of good.
All right.
Just a quick review here.
Parkview Gardens in
Caledonia.
Three sections.
Regular apartments if you want.
Mm-hmm.
You're on your own wild parties
on Saturday night.
The police will show up.
Tell you to lower the views.
Things like that.
Assisted living where you can
get nurse care.
Mm-hmm.
You can get medication
management.
Yep.
That's what I need.
Now, medication management.
And you give, you know,
recreational activities and
food provided.
And what is memory care?
This is the saddest one of
all.
And people just lose their
memory.
They don't know people are
anymore.
And that's good.
They can go somewhere.
Because I went set to my
mother.
And what do people do before
air conditioning?
Because she's from New York
City.
I say, what they do?
You see these pictures of
people in the early 1900s.
These long woolen dresses
women wore.
These woolen jackets.
And it was like 90 degrees
outside.
What they do?
They died.
From the eighth.
Because there was no
No where to help them.
I mean, they don't have
places where you can go.
They know air conditioning.
Air conditioning wasn't
invented yet.
It's good to know there are
places like bar few gardens
around where somebody could
take care of your parents.
Because you can't do it
full-time.
You've got a family.
You've got a job to go to.
And it's good to know.
And bless your people for
doing this and taking care of
people.
Because if you didn't do it.
Yeah.
Well, what happened?
People would get hurt
because they'd live on their
own.
And there were horror stories
out there.
So.
Yeah.
Okay.
Quick review.
One more time.
Go to the website.
Park View Gardens,
Caledonia.
You have to put in there.
Yeah.
Just park View Gardens.
Yeah.
If you see palm trees in the
background, you got the wrong
location.
Okay.
It's right there on Douglas Avenue.
You can't miss it in Caledonia.
It's a big place you got there.
Yes.
I told you.
I remember when they were
building it.
Yeah.
Back in the early 2000s.
I drove by there and said,
whoa.
This place is big.
And well, thank you guys for
having us.
Anthony Nelson, community
relations.
And I'm going to get it right.
Crystal Lycan.
It's executive director.
Yeah.
Did you guys run the joint,
huh?
Yep.
That's good.
That's a lot of responsibility
with all those people, you know
that.
Yeah.
That is a lot of responsibility.
I don't know if I can handle it.
I can't handle this responsibility.
Yeah.
All that.
Thank you very much for coming in.
Thank you.
And if you missed any of this,
just say, yeah, I want to hear it again.
We're going to podcast it.
So you'll be able to hear it probably
by tomorrow.
We'll get Jacob to podcast this
right away.