Off on holiday — after a 24- year wait
A 24- year wait for a holiday ended for a rest- home resident when her carers took her on a trip to the Bay of Islands.
Jill Fitzgerald, 84, who has lived at Radius Taupaki Gables in the west Auckland countryside for 31 years, last took a trip to Sydney with a friend when she was 60.
Gables manager Laurel Winwood said Fitzgerald had been telling staff for some time she wanted to go on holiday in 2018.
“With International Day of the Older Person approaching [ October 1] we thought, why wait? So we are having a girls’ holiday with Jill.”
On Wednesday, Fitzgerald, Winwood and Emma Venables, the home’s clinical co- ordinator, left for Paihia, with a stop to feed the ducks in Warkworth. That evening they enjoyed a home- cooked dinner at their seaside apartment followed by a walk on the beach.
The next day, Fitzgerald toured Paihia and Russell, wrapping the day up with a beer and dinner at a restaurant on the wharf, before they returned to Auckland yesterday.
When the Weekend Herald went to see her the day before her trip, Fitzgerald, whom Winwood called the “fashion guru of the facility”, was dressed in a matching yellow top and cardigan. Her silver- flecked skirt matched her newly painted nails.
Fitzgerald was clearly excited about her trip, with her suitcase, a hand- me- down from her mother, packed and ready to go.
She even had a dinner outfit — complete with red snakeskin shoes For a video interview with Jill she had bought in Queen St 40 years ago — planned and ready for her night out.
“I was crying a little bit when they told me about the holiday. I was very happy, it feels good,” she said. “I’m going over to the Bay of Islands and that’s up north and it’s going to be really nice and I’m going to enjoy it.”
It’s not the first time Fitzgerald has gone to the Bay of Islands, though her last trip there was almost 70 years ago, when she was 16.
They travelled in her father’s brown Chevvy to a flat they stayed in for about two weeks. She remembered wearing a straw hat and going on a Fullers cruise.
Fitzgerald had lived her whole life with her parents. However, when her mother was in need of care she was unable to be left living on her own, so she came to the rest home on December 1, 1985.
“I came here to be with my mum. Mum was here and mum had just come out of hospital,” she said. “I made a commitment to look after my mum and dad so that’s what I did.”
Winwood said Fitzgerald had a very caring nature and loved being able to assist her mother, and had proven helpful around the home, caring for the staff and animals.
“Jill is very close to the staff and sees us as her family,” she said.
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