Growing up during the Great Depression, Edith Kemp learned self-reliance at an early age. She mastered the domestic arts—sewing, gardening, cooking, canning—and put them to work at her home in Davenport, Iowa, as the mother of five children. Every summer she put up a year’s supply of corn, green beans and tomatoes from her garden, filling hundreds of Ball jars each harvest season. She made to-die-for cinnamon rolls and the best fried chicken on the planet, according to her sons. Edith and her husband, Eugene, a tool maker at the local tractor assembly plant, kept busy, wasted nothing, and worked their way into retirement with a winter home in Texas to escape the cold.

But in her early 90s, by then a grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother several times over, Edith suffered a fall at home. She broke her right arm, losing use of her dominant hand, and became bedridden. After a lifetime of caring for her home and family, the time had come for Edith to move into Bickford of Davenport to get the care that she herself needed.

“When we brought her in there, I really didn’t think she’d make it past a month,” says Stephen Kemp, Edith’s second-oldest son. “She was doing so bad. We thought the end was really near.”

Edith entered Bickford at the highest level of care, needing assistance with every aspect of her daily routines. It was a major change for someone so used to the comfort and privacy of her own home. “She’s always been a homebody,” Stephen says. “She had some pretty good adjustments to adapt to all the people around her.”

Compounding Edith’s difficulties was the fact that she is nearly blind and deaf, making communication with her caregivers a real challenge.

“One of Edith’s biggest problems in the earlier stages was the fear aspect,” remembers Miranda Lewis, executive director of Bickford of Davenport. “The biggest part was letting her know that she was safe. They were able to do that without words.”

Bit by bit, Edith gained trust in her caregivers. They worked out ways to communicate, using a white board to write simple messages and photos at mealtimes to help her understand what was on the menu. “She really developed such strong relationships with her primary caregivers,” Miranda says. “She lights up when she sees them. It’s really beautiful.”

At weekly HigherPath meetings, the branch team collaborated on how best to help Edith get better and regain some independence. Her Bickford caregivers went out of their way to spend time with Edith, helping her gain trust and familiarity. The onsite Curana Health team provided Edith primary care without needing to leave the comfort of her apartment. And although Edith’s broken arm was slow to heal, the in-house Fox Therapy staff started physical and occupational therapy sessions as soon as possible.

“Very quickly, the team was able to get Edith up and walking,” Miranda recalls. “Before we knew it, she’s out in the hallways tootling around.”

Edith continued steadily making strides, venturing out of her apartment for meals and activities. She regained use of her right hand, and with it the ability to feed herself and take care of her own needs in the bathroom. “That went a long way for Edith’s confidence and quality of life,” Miranda says, “to be able to have that independence back.”

At age 94, Edith now has dropped down two levels of care and makes regular loops of the Bickford halls. “She out-walks everybody in the place,” Stephen says. She loves spending time in the outdoor courtyard and doting on the mini dachshund puppy, Dora, that Miranda brings to work each day. Edith has even made a best friend, Nancy, and the two eat their meals together and visit in one another’s apartments, holding hands and looking at old family photos.

“She’s doing really well,” Stephen says. “She seems to enjoy life.”

Bickford certainly enjoys Edith, as well.

“We love Edith so much,” Miranda says. “I’m just so glad that life brought her to us.”

Contemplating the next chapter in your loved one’s story? Click here to learn more about Bickford Senior Living and to find a branch near you.