“Every year again”, this is how a well-known German Christmas carol begins, which will be heard again this year in many festively decorated rooms. And that despite the fact that an uninvited guest is standing at the door with the coronavirus, with whom the festival may be different this time than usual. Elderly people in particular are at risk and need special protection. But, as Christoph Kugler, director of the St. Katharina Labouré retirement and nursing home, says: “Christmas is definitely taking place, and we are doing everything we can to ensure that it is beautiful too.”
This is also confirmed by his colleague Tobias Gruber from the Awo senior citizen center in Ismaning. “We try to do everything as people are used to at home” – with Christmas decorations, a special menu, the church service, music. Only everything will take place on a smaller scale. The facility managers report that they will refrain from large celebrations, as is usually the case on Christmas Eve in both homes, the festivities will be relocated to the individual living areas, where the groups celebrated together who would otherwise have their meals together.
There were many campaigns in Advent
The Christmas season is a special one, with which many older people also associate special memories. In both homes, everyone, from housekeeping, cleaning and nursing staff to social services and pastors, tried to create a nice Advent season. For example, Kugler reports on the sounding advent calendar that transports music and small texts to the residents every day via loudspeakers. And every day different seniors get a foldable angel to set up, filled with a chocolate ball. Or the handicraft lessons in which the residents made straw stars for the tree.
Kindergarten groups from Unterhaching also stopped by, as Kugler says. They serenaded the seniors in the garden. The children also had homemade gifts in their luggage. “Something happens every day,” says Kugler, who has also been giving St. Nicholas for eight years, since he has been running the home. Dressed in a red coat and a long white beard, he walks through the house and addresses personal words to the residents. Hardly anyone has recognized him so far, he says. Even his two children, who were allowed to accompany him as little angels before Corona times, would not have noticed who is hiding under the costume. And of course there are also small gifts for the residents. This year the group “Unterhachinger Dorfgeflüster” got involved again and fulfilled anonymized wishes. For one, a good bottle of wine, for the other, reading material with spiritual content.
Advent in the Ismaning senior citizen center run by the Arbeiterwohlfahrt went very similarly. There is also an employee there who traditionally appears as Santa Claus. There were handicrafts lessons there too, and people baked. Much is like in normal years, “but ultimately everything has to be smaller,” says Tobias Gruber. However, he regrets that the external Christmas parties, such as those organized by the community or Hillebrandhof, had to be canceled this time due to the pandemic. According to his impression, the atmosphere in the house is a little more relaxed than last year, and the seniors showed great understanding. The facility managers emphasize that the booster vaccinations were successful in both homes. “The infection protection is high for residents and employees, that gives a certain security,” says Gruber.
Relatives can bring residents to their homes
On Christmas Eve, the seniors in the two homes will celebrate in their residential groups. In Unterhaching, residents and employees will also receive cookie bags. They come from the bakery of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Vincent de Paul, the order that acts as the bearer of the home and are presented by the five sisters who volunteer in the home. The Unterhaching residents have a poet among the residents who will recite his texts. Church services are celebrated and there is good food. And small gifts are distributed in both houses, also from external organizations. There are non-slip socks or a body lotion under the Christmas tree, as Gruber reports.
Relatives are not allowed to celebrate, but they can visit their relatives or bring them home for the festival. When Christoph Kugler is asked on the phone whether it makes sense at all, he replies that everyone has to decide for themselves. As a general rule, visitors have to be tested, and residents who celebrate away from home also have to be tested – before they leave and when they come back. Both homes offer the tests in-house. But nobody wants that every year.