topic Re: Nursing Home Puzzles in Among Friends

Nursing Home Puzzles

eaesquire — Sun, 23 Jan 2022 23:09:19 GMT

I am looking for ideas on what to do with completed puzzles. My uncle lives in a nursing home and one of his hobbies is to assemble jigsaw puzzles. When he completes a puzzle, he insists on putting Mod Podge on the back so that it cannot be disassembled. He writes on the back of each puzzle to note when he finished it and the names of any nurses/residents/visitors who helped him put it together. I think his vision is that people will frame and hang the completed puzzles. He refuses to take them apart so that someone else in the home can put them together or so that he can put them together more than once.

Just before the holidays, he had more than 200 completed puzzles stacked in piles all around his room, under his hospital bed, in the closet. My aunt came up with an idea to hand them out at our family holiday dinner. She's now got the collection down to 136 puzzles. Any ideas on how we can dispose of the rest of the puzzles (and the new puzzles he's going to keep churning out)? I think my uncle would be really hurt if he found out we tossed them out, but we don't know what else to do at this point. TIA for any ideas.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

Twoaces — Sun, 23 Jan 2022 23:30:35 GMT

Your uncle is lucky to have found something that gives him goals and a sense of purpose in a nursing home setting. Sharing puzzles with family was a great idea! Maybe some of the folks, or the families of folks who helped him with the puzzles might enjoy having some of them, too. The future will eventually take care of itself. I see this as similar to unloved presents that I’ve received and kept for a time so as not to hurt the feelings of a loved one. (I’ll bet some recipients of my gifts are doing the same now!) It could be a loving gift to help him feel useful, and to help him store these puzzles for now.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

phoenixbrd — Sun, 23 Jan 2022 23:46:48 GMT

@eaesquire Wonderful that he has found a hobby that keeps him busy and engaged. I would suggest that you divide the puzzles amongst the family members. Then they are free to do with they whatever they wish.....whether now or after his transition. (I'd probably keep one as a fond memory and toss the rest}...but each family member won't feel obligated to follow a particular action.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

eaesquire — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:03:52 GMT

@Twoaces I really appreciate your kind response, and you are absolutely right. Maybe my aunt's next move is to get a bunch of the puzzles to her garage and let the future sort things out. If she tells him she's going to hand them out at her church or a craft fair, perhaps he will feel better about letting them go. And in the meantime, we'll keep buying him puzzles and jugs of Mod Podge.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

Love my grandkids — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:04:21 GMT

Quite honestly how would he even know if some were tossed unless someone told him? In reality you likely won't find *permanent* homes for all of them. I know I wouldn't keep a bunch of those around.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

Sweetbay magnolia — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:10:58 GMT

I don't have a good solution, but I wanted to add that your story is one i find quite touching, and inspirational.

Do the staff want any?

There are some beautiful puzzles out there. I wonder if there could be a charity auction, to benefit caregiver services or something similar. There's got to an an angle to make this a story worth telling to a larger audience.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

ThinkingOutLoud — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:16:58 GMT

I like the idea of giving them to those that helped put it together but I wouldn't stop there. I'd give each of the nursing home workers one (cafeteria help, admins, etc) since they all have a part in his care.

Each visitor that comes could also be given one as a take home gift.

Also, maybe the other residents might like some different decor for their rooms.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

manny2 — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:16:23 GMT

Living in a nursing home isn't easy. I think your uncle has found a passion ,and it fills his days with something he loves to do. Just let him keep doing it. Take the puzzles home, and dispose of them. He won't know the difference, and everybody is happy.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

ECBG — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:19:19 GMT

Bless his heart.

I would take them away, put in large zip lock bags with a picture and donate. Someone, somewhere, needs the comfort or challenge of them.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

eaesquire — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:23:27 GMT

@ECBG He has Mod Podged them together. They cannot be disassembled without destroying them. We've all tried to talk to him out of it so someone else can reuse them or so he can work them a 2nd time, but he's really invested in Mod Podging them so they stay put together and can be displayed somewhere.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

Love my grandkids — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:26:59 GMT

@ECBG The thing is there would be no challenge as the gentleman treats them with stuff that permanently glues them together. They can't be reused.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

eaesquire — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:29:35 GMT

@manny2 I think that might have worked when he first started doing the puzzles, but now there are in excess of 100 and more coming. I think my aunt needs to have a candid conversation with him that some have to go home to her garage. She could never destroy them and then lie to him about it, and he would definitely ask. She'll have to store them and deal with disposing of them later.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

eaesquire — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:35:00 GMT

@Sweetbay magnolia Good idea! Reading through some of the responses made me think my aunt could tell him she's putting them in a craft fair or a few of them could be displayed in a common area at the home for whoever wants to grab one. Thank you for giving me some ideas.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

eaesquire — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:40:31 GMT

@Love my grandkids Of course we all know we could toss them in a bonfire and be done with it, but it isn't a solution while he's alive. He's really invested in the joy he believes others get from receiving one of his puzzles so it would be difficult to remove 100+ puzzles from his room without getting a bunch of questions from him about where they went. It would be impossible for my aunt to lie. I've concluded she needs to have a talk with him about moving them to storage (in her garage), and then sort it out in the future when that becomes an option. Maybe when he's gone, there will be a renewed interest in our family to take another puzzle as a memory and the rest can be tossed.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

Love my grandkids — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:56:05 GMT

@eaesquire Sounds like a plan. But I'm sure that some people who get gifted with these won't keep them. Just human nature but I hope your family figures out a plan.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

ECBG — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 01:02:53 GMT

@Love my grandkids wrote:
@ECBG The thing is there would be no challenge as the gentleman treats them with stuff that permanently glues them together. They can't be reused.

@Love my grandkids

Missed that! Thank you!

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

lolakimono — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 01:11:38 GMT

@eaesquire

Two suggestions-

1) what about using a free puzzle app on a tablet to do epuzzles instead of cardboard puzzles?

2) how about challenging him to mix the puzzles? This is a common thing but requires a lot of skill to put different colors/shades together.

Here is an example-

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

RoughDraft — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 01:14:14 GMT

Could the nursing home administrators be approached to agreeing to either display them in the halls and reception rooms and possibly have an auction to raise money for the patients and the home which he might be interested in co-hosting? (If he's agreeable, of course.)

I've seen it done in several nursing homes with scrap booking and photographic memories and they were a big hit with visitors.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

Sooner — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 01:16:23 GMT

@manny2 wrote:
Living in a nursing home isn't easy. I think your uncle has found a passion ,and it fills his days with something he loves to do. Just let him keep doing it. Take the puzzles home, and dispose of them. He won't know the difference, and everybody is happy.

@manny2 Having a lot of experience with people in nursing homes, I do agree with this. You can't fulfill people's every wish and sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

Just so he has new ones to work on, you shouldn't have a problem. And I doubt you'd find happy takers for many of the finished ones.

Re: Nursing Home Puzzles

Bri369 — Mon, 24 Jan 2022 01:24:42 GMT

I don't have a suggestion for getting rid of the completed puzzle once it's been glued.

How about taking a photograph of the puzzle and making an album for him to look through of all the puzzles he's completed. He might enjoy looking back at those. I would take a photo of the front as well as the back.

It's heartwarming to hear that he has a hobby that he loves to pass the time.