91-year-old Eileen Kakuk visiting with her son and daughter-in-law (Photo courtesy Bob Schneider)

By Teagan Rasche

high vaccination rates

Optimism among those in retirement homes

May 18, 2021 | 4:46 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – For more than a year, family gatherings have looked a lot different for 91-year-old Eileen Kakuk.

Instead of enjoying big family dinners, she’s been limited to a few visitors at a time at her retirement home.

“From a distance, it’s not the same as being able to be with them, but I have managed to see them all,” Eileen said.

Seniors in homes like Medicine Hat Retirement Villa were among the first to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in our province.

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The government eased restrictions on May 10 to allow for up to four visitors at a time.

Eileen is a great-grandma and is looking forward to spending more time with her family.

Her son Steve regularly comes by and he is excited for when all restrictions are lifted

“Getting everyone together as far as I’m concerned,” Steve said. “We do have a lot of kids, we have the grandkids. It would be really nice to get everybody together and do what we normally do.”

For 85-year-old resident Louis Stephenson, this means she can see her large family.

“I have three children, nine grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson,” Louis said.

Louis says she’s only had a few in-person visitors this last year but has kept in contact with family by phone.

“We were pretty close family at one time and I did enjoy getting together with all of them,” Louis said.

As more Albertans get vaccinated, the family gatherings residents have been missing could be right around the corner.