Keiro Intermediate Care Facility

OK, it’s a little weird to Unilocal a nursing home, I admit, but I have to, because these guys are such angels. I mean, you can practically see the halos over their heads, and all of them look like they’re having a pretty good time doing what might be a difficult job for a lot of people (like me, for instance).
I had my Grandmother in a really plush place on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, right across from Palisades Park. She had her own room, large, light, airy, facing the ocean. It was SWEEEEET! And we loved going there because we just loved hanging out in her room and then walking in Palisades Park afterwards. But she was the only Asian person in the whole facility, and she kept asking me if I could find her a place «in Japantown». Well, the closest I could come was this place in Boyle Heights. It’s much larger, more institutional, and it ain’t exactly the beach. But the staff and the volunteers are all absolutely wonderful — sunny, patient, and they love their work. The residents, meanwhile, are mostly 80s and up, almost all of them have some degree of dementia, and nearly all of them use walkers. But they are BUSY! And energetic! If you’re ever standing near one of the elevators right after lunch, there’s a good chance they’ll trample you — it’s a little like that scene in MIDNIGHT COWBOY, where the Florida retirees run over Ratso Rizzo at the end of his Florida fantasy.
But I digress.
They have classes going on all day, nearly every day — art classes, ikebana classes, sumi brush painting classes. They have karaōke, bible study, and Buddhist studies. They go on outings and get live entertainment, including a live swing band for their «Spring Fling». Their volunteers seem to range from teenagers to people who are themselves well into their seventies. It’s just a great place with a lot of love. It’s a non-​profit, so it’s not nearly as plush as Grandma’s old place — almost all the rooms are doubles, and she had to downsize her wardrobe by qutie a bit — but hey, if you have to choose between love and luxury… well, she chose love, and I think I would too.