Thursday Doors – Welcome to the Neighborhood

My mom turned 92 this week, so I thought it would be a good time to share some doors from her “neighborhood.” I put that in quotes because she lives in an apartment building that is designed for elderly folk. She’s OK with being “elderly.” In fact, she’s OK with being “old” and, she’s OK with me using these doors.

I tried explaining Thursday Doors to her. She doesn’t have Internet access, so I couldn’t show her Thursday Doors, but I told her about it. I told her how a bunch of people get together each week, link up with Norm and share pictures of doors.

She gave me that look.

I didn’t explain the deal with the Blue Frog, ‘cuz I was pretty sure that would seal the deal, as it were. If you’re not familiar with Thursday Doors, visit Norm at his place, click the Blue Frog if you want to add your doors or see all the other doors.

Make sure to look at Norm’s doors when you get to his page. My mother might not understand the Internet or Thursday Doors, but she would understand being polite and checking out Norm’s doors. “If he’s going to all that trouble for you, it’s the least you can do” – I can hear it, clear as when I was six.

The building she lives in is a non-descript apartment building. The doors are blah, but each apartment’s door sits in a little recessed area. Most residents decorate this space as if it’s their front porch. I took a couple of pictures of these. When my mom asked what I was doing, I explained and she said: “oh, then go down that way, because there are some people down there who went all out.”

When I asked her if she thought people would mind, she said that she thought they would be happy. I’m going to go with that.

The pretty doors are in the gallery. The featured door is the door to the building. I was comforted by that sign when I first went inside. My brother dropped me off so I could visit for a few hours, but I didn’t get very far. When heading to the elevator, a woman stopped me:

“Who are you?”

“I’m Dan, I’m here to see my mom.”

“Who’s you mom?”

“Betty. Up on the third floor.”

“I know Betty, but I haven’t seen you before.”

“I’m visiting from Connecticut.”

“Well, you should come more often.”

“Yeah, um…nice meeting you.”

When we were packing my mother’s stuff before moving her to Iowa, one of the things she was very concerned about was her holiday decorations. They were in a storage area, and she didn’t want us to forget them. To appease her, we emptied out the storage area before sending her to the airport for her flight. I think it’s nice of the apartment management to allow the residents to personalize their entrances. I hope you enjoy their doors.

Apartments

Lobby

I’m not sure what’s up there, but with all the walkers I saw, I don’t think the stairs get a lot of use.

The chapel is pretty close to my mom’s apartment.

Mom’s door