I have been doing Memories articles for awhile and sadly we have had to let them go. I would like to thank the residents of New Hope Lodge for allowing me the chance to visit with them.
The families of everyone I interviewed were asked if I could speak with the residents, some opted out and others requested to know when I would be there so they could also attend. The families were asked to participate and if I was given the go ahead to interview the person, but the family opted out of being there, it was understood that they would be able to do the interview with me on their own.
It turns out there was some information in one particular story that wasn't entirely correct, but it was how she remembered her life. She sat and told me stories, so happy that I was there speaking with her and wanting to hear what she had to say. As she told her story, which she told to the best of her abilities, she spoke the entire time smiling and thanking me for coming to visit her.
No, I didn't cross check the facts of the story with her family. They had given me permission to interview her and had opted out of being there for the interview, so I was under the impression that what she told me was as it was.
After it was published though there were complaints and people didn't hold back their anger.
I was on my own in the interview; I sat with her in her room as she went on about how much she loved her family and showed me photos of them. As she explained she was frustrated some days about not being able to go for a drive, but that the staff and where she is currently living is fabulous, so it makes up for not being able to do everything she once did.
So, as these angry calls came in I sat with a few tears gathering in my eyes, thinking of my grandmother who has dementia and how the conversations at New Hope Lodge made me think of my own family, of the grandfather I never met and what he was like and of the one that passed when I was so young I can only remember a few things about him. I express my gratitude to those who spoke with me at the Lodge and the families that gave me permission to do the interviews.
It wasn't my intention to make anyone angry. I had developed a relationship with this pleasant woman for the hour we spoke, as I had with everyone I met there, and it was not my intention to ever hurt anyone or make anyone upset with the article.
The only people I will apologize to for this, however, is her family. Though they never called and complained, it was other people in the community, I am sorry to her family for having published somewhat inaccurate statements. Essentially the stories she told were just mixed up a little, attributing a story from when she was working to when she was a young girl, little things that with getting older can happen with ones memory, but the feelings of her parents having worked hard and of loving her family were from the heart despite the circumstances being a little inaccurate.
Overall I will cherish the small amount of time spent with those at New Hope Lodge. I do have two other interviews recorded from residents there, which I have decided to write and The Observer has decided to share because when each person spoke with me they were smiling and excited that the newspaper was interested in what they had to say. I don't want those last couple of interviews to just be lost, whether completely accurate or not, those residents had something to say and I was there in that moment to listen to them say it.
