KEES
What if groceries could talk
2023- ongoing
In September 2023, I got intrigued by the world in a world that appeared to me from behind the pale brick walls of the nursing home called ‘de Roos’. It’s a twilight zone where elderly end up in a waiting room for death, ‘the last pitstop before heaven’. A place where stories die.
A place where a group of people live that is not fully part of society anymore.
I decided to start doing research on nursing homes and loneliness. But also, to just visit ‘De Roos’ and experience it myself. So, I went multiple times. Having coffees (the cheapest), cookies (always the same biscuits) and chats with a group of elderly in their communal living room. But also talk to people who work there and hearing how the government is trying to save money over the care of elderly.
Eventually, I decided to spend roughly a day with Kees. We had a lot to talk about. He shared the highlights and lows of his life. He was surprised that he was so talkative. Maybe because he felt at home with me. Finally, someone who was genuinely interested. Or maybe just because he had finally someone to talk to. His wife passed away, he has no children and most of his friends also passed away. He has one nephew who sometimes checks in with him. But that’s it. Unfortunately, he had a hip surgery and can’t walk into the city anymore for having his daily coffee. He mentioned, ‘I do groceries every day. Sometimes multiple times a day. It gives meaning to my life, a reason to get out of my tiny apartment.’ I know that there is a small grocery shop underneath the nursing home, where I sometimes also do some small groceries. I often see inhabitants of ‘De Roos’ strolling around and ending up at the counter with a very small number of groceries.
Loneliness and feeling isolated is a theme this group struggles with unfortunately. The older someone gets the more emotional loneliness someone experiences (CBS).
By this ongoing project I want to reflect on this theme the next two years. I want to tell stories and pass them on so that these people will not be forgotten and disappear in an endless void of nothingness. In the end nothing remains, despite ash or bones and stories.
In particular, I want to focus on the act of doing groceries which derives from keeping one busy and ’meet’ others in order to feel less lonely and isolated. ‘If groceries could talk.’ Who is the person behind the groceries? What happens behind these brick walls?
By doing so I hope that this will be picked up by organizations that can be the catalyst of making a change in care for elderly people.
