The Fisher House in Connecticut

This past week George had carotid-subclavian bypass surgery. An artery in his neck was so clogged and calcified that they couldn't place a stent, so they had to do a full bypass. We are hoping this clears up some issues he was having.

What I wanted to let people know, if you are a veteran and live more than an hour away from the VA hospital where you will be admitted, your family can be put up in housing while you are in the hospital.
In the 1990's a wonderful couple, Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher built the first Fisher House in Bethesda, MD. They saw a need, to help families stay close to their loved ones during VA hospital stays. The Fishers have since passed away, but the Fisher House Foundation keeps their legacy alive. Today, there are nearly 100 Fisher houses, mostly in the US, with a few overseas.
The Fisher House Foundation, designs and build the houses, furnishes and decorates them, and then donates them to the VA. The VA staffs them with administrative workers, housekeeping and maintenance.

I was blessed to be able to stay there while George was in the hospital--and because his surgery was early in the morning, we were able to stay the night before. The houses are built to be a home away from home to reduce the stress of long drives and hotel costs. They are beautifully made with high-quality fixtures and beautiful decor.

We stayed at the Fisher House on the West Haven VA hospital campus. It was amazing. You stay in a bedroom with your own bathroom. There are a shared kitchen, dining room, family room and outdoor patio. You have your own personal fridge space and pantry cupboard for any food you bring, but there is also a generous supply of donated food available for families. The food is donated by various organizations.

These pictures will show you what a beautiful place it is and what an awesome way to honor veterans and their families in stressful times. I wanted to spread the word.

There were many photographs along the hallways. We must have walked by this 5 times before we noticed this picture from our hometown! Another God wink: I was talking to a woman who was staying there while her husband had surgery. It turned out that not only did she live in the next town over, but she lived a couple of houses away from a house we used to rent out. I love coincidences like that. 

Making the most of a trip to the VA Hospital

So what do you do when you have to leave the house at 5:30 am to drive over an hour to the VA hospital? After the appointment and a long awaited breakfast, we had to see the ocean since we were so close. This is our very first "selfie" ever and the ocean is in the background. Let me add here that George has never had an unpleasant visit to the VA. He has been treated well and has not experienced any of the long waits that have been publicized lately.

These are pictures of where we were today and how it looks now. Continue below to see how it was that brought back many fond memories for me.

There is a wall devoted to the "Good Old Days of Savin Rock". I was young but I have nothing but fond memories of the hours that Mom and Dad and I spent here. Of all the parks we went to, Riverside, Mountain, Lake Compounce, this was our favorite.

And our my most favorite part of all was the Arcade. We loved the old claw machines. They were filled mostly with candies (unwrapped, but I lived!). There were little prizes too. We would bring small brown bags and fill them with the candy and prizes.  Wonderful memories.