A home of our own is what most people desire, but Mary Turner’s dream was to have a home filled with elderly people. A community nurse in Bermuda for over 30 years, Mrs. Turner has a lifetime of experience in caring for the elderly. “I always wanted to operate a nursing home,” she said. But life commitments to her children and their being educated were her priority. Her youngest son Nathaniel said his mother had wanted this “ for a long, long time” and so when he finished law school and settled into his job, they set about making her dream a reality.

The mother and son opened Easter Lily in February, 2005.

The facility on North Shore Road in Hamilton Parish is an old Bermuda family home with extra large bedrooms complete with fireplaces.

A large dining area, comfortable living room, gardens, patios and even a basketball court are common areas all residents can use.

The house is on an acre of property and while the grounds are large, most residents enjoy them in supervised activities.

“Our aim is not just to house the people but to rehabilitate them,” said Nathaniel. And the pair can already boast some success.

“We have a resident who came to us overweight. He was 240 pounds and suffering severe complications as a result of diabetes. We had to carry him up the stairs.

“He was legally blind and sometimes we couldn’t wake him up — he’d be going into a diabetic coma,” said Mrs. Turner.

The man moved in last August and is now 60 pounds lighter and much stronger.

“He’s lifting weights and doing sit ups,’ said Nathaniel. “ He’s become quite strong and can walk and climb the stairs easily. I encourage him and gave him some weights, which he likes. He’ll sit and watch TV and every so often lift the weights a few times.”

His health has improved so much that he has had to cut back on the amount of insulin he takes each day.

The turnaround is result of the active programme the Turners provide for the residents.

“We go for walks twice a day, pick flowers, fish, we eat the fish, go to the movies and Harbour Nights,” they said.

“We try to get them out and challenge them because if left to themselves, they would just stay at home. This year we will try to take them swimming.”

Currently there are six residents at Easter Lily and one person who is looked after in a day care arrangement.

More than double that can comfortably fit.

“When we are operating at capacity we will have room for 13 residents and four day care clients,” said Nathaniel.

The Turners are deeply committed to making the seniors’ residence a home.

They are not soliciting occupants and said that it is important to add residents slowly.

“We need to give the current residents time to adjust to the new person,” said Nathaniel. “They all have different personalities and need time to blend in,” his mother added.

So people have joined the home one by one. Adding people quickly or in larger numbers might spoil the flow and confuse residents. The residents share rooms according to their gender. Currently the two women share a room and the four men share another.

“The main problem with the elderly is that they get lonely,” said Mrs. Turner, so she prefers to house them in the same room for emotional support.

“It’s almost like a buddy buddy system,” she said “At times it cam be challenging to get them to change their ways but we’ve found it’s easier when they can see the other people carrying out the particular task or behaviour.”

For example they had a resident who did not want to bathe every day, but when he saw that everyone else there did, he changed his view.

But even with activities and living arrangement the pair say the residents more than anything really want their relatives to visit.

So they’re determined to continue to make the facility as homey as possible.

“You get attached to them and sometimes you are their only family,” said Nathaniel

It is that mindset that will see the home affixed with a simple house nameplate instead of a large nursing home sign.

A staunch Christian woman, Mrs. Turner said by doing this work she is “completing” her “assignment in life”.