At least you’re on the road to recovery: You’re grateful to have expert, professional round-the-clock care for your needs, and you’re getting better, if even just minutely, every day. You’re in a safe, secure, environment, with solid meals and all the amenities for your day to day life at Rockaway Care Center.  Striving to get as healthy as you can at any given moment, you’re receiving the help you need, and that’s good.But it’s hard because it’s not your own home, and you’re not with your loved ones regularly.

While you’re making do with your temporary abode, there’s always that longing.

And the winter holidays are just around the corner.

How can you feel closer with your loved ones when you can’t live with them right now?

Chances are most of the residents are feeling this way.  So, we’ve put together some excellent suggestions to have a home away from home in general, and during the holiday season in particular. These suggestions all involve ways for you to actively be involved with making yourself feel closer to your loved ones, even while you’re away.

For each suggestion below, you will add your own words either by writing, speaking with someone else, or even recording. If writing, speaking, or recording are currently difficult, then even just the thoughts in your head can work wonders for your spirit.

1. Make up captions for a photo. If you haven’t already, have family and friends provide you photos to post near your bedside, either in frames or on a little bulletin board.  Then, pick one photo, and make up 3-5 different captions for it! The captions can be anything you want – your feelings, a humorous take, or simply just a description.  You could even make it be a contest with friends, family members, or fellow residents for “Best Caption”.
2. Make holiday greeting cards.  Even though you’re the one needing rehabilitative assistance, your loved ones still need to feel connected with you. They miss you. By reaching out to them, you’ll feel connected, and so will they. You can write a few lines about what you love about them.  (And even for those who are not on the best of terms, this activity can be a good forum for making amends.)Interestingly, by letting loved ones know how much you’ve appreciated them over the years, you’ll likely feel even better yourself, aiding your recovery. 
3. Keep a very short “positive qualities” journal. Every day, record one thing you love about one loved one. Obviously you can write more if you’d like, but choosing one aspect about one person allows you to focus your feelings of closeness for that day.

Then, record one positive quality in one Rockaway Care Center staff member.  This way, you can tangibly feel a personal connectionwith the people who routinely surround you today.

By doing any of the above suggestions, you make your own mark, connecting with loved ones and also allowing yourself to feel more connected at Rockaway Care Center.