On July 28, Edward Longstreet, a World War II and Korean War veteran, celebrated his 100th birthday at the Atlanta VA Medical Center’s Community Living Center.
Longstreet, who has lived at the center since January 2009, spent 30 years in the Army and retired as a master sergeant.
“I was a pretty good sergeant,” Longstreet said. “Since I was in authority, I had to know everything and make decisions.”
Longstreet, who commanded a company of men involved in engineering and construction work in Russia toward the end of the war in Europe, is glad that he served in the military.
“The Army gave me a lot more experience,” he said. “In trying to teach someone else to do something, it’s surprising how much I learned.”
After his military career, Longstreet worked in the grocery business and for the Atlanta VA Medical Center doing landscaping and construction projects. In fact, he helped build his current home, the Community Living Center.
Former co-worker Eldredge Jackson, 61, remembers that Longstreet’s crew followed him around like biddies.
“We called him the Big Chicken,” Jackson said.
Although his body shows his age and his mobility is limited, Longstreet’s vitality and ability to command the troops is still very much in evidence. The troops — the team of therapists and nurses who care for him — don’t seem to mind. They call him Papa or Granddaddy.
At his insistence, they helped him into a suit and one nurse ran in with his tie and knotted it around his neck to prepare for a photo shoot.
“They take good care of me. You should talk to her; she knows me pretty well,” said Longstreet, pointing at Chauncy Rozier, a recreation therapist.
“He’ll get you moving,” Rozier said. “If he asks you for something, he isn’t going to forget it. He’s a character, but we love his sense of humor. He calls me his girlfriend, because I take him on outings.”
Rozier said Longstreet has a steady hand at Jenga and usually wins at poker.
“He enjoys the Bible and other discussion groups we have,” she said. “He doesn’t say much during, but afterward he’ll wrap it up for me and share his wisdom. He’ll tell me I was pretty good.”
Patients make wish lists of where they’d like to go on excursions and Rozier takes them by bus to ballgames, Walmart, veterans events, fishing, bowling or to play adaptive golf.
“I tell the residents that what happens on a therapy trip, stays with the therapy trip,” Rozier said with a laugh. “It’s all about their quality of life, and they really like to do new things.”
Rozier is open to spontaneity, whether it’s stopping for ice cream, visiting Centennial Park or traveling the back roads of McDonough because one resident wanted to see cows and goats.
“We rode [Ga.] 155 all the way out and stopped at a pumpkin patch to watch school kids picking out pumpkins,” she said. “I asked them to come say hi to the vets and they did.”
‘Like a family’
Outings are just part of creating a home environment for veterans at the center.
“We don’t call this a nursing home; it is their home and we are all like a family,” said Zina Floyd, RN, MSN, assistant nurse manager. “You don’t mind doing something for someone when he’s part of your family. You do it because you care about them. We have our freedom because of them, and we should never forget that.”
To improve the quality of the community, residents serve on councils, participate in care decisions and help form new policies. There are regular community meetings.
Rozier has created story boards in every resident’s room, with photos from their past and present lives.
“It was part of a national VA project. They wanted us to do scrapbooks, but I thought boards would be more visible and help the residents learn about each other,” Rozier said.
Longstreet’s story board includes pictures of his wife, Leitha, who passed away some years ago; a couple he met in Europe who became lifelong friends; and a photo of him smoking a cigar with his Army buddies.
Floyd who has spent her entire 27-year nursing career in geriatric care, said “you learn that they’re not old people. They’re aging and growing in wisdom. We spend a lot of time listening, and I can tell you that Mr. Longstreet remembers more than I do.”
Hands-on nursing
Eugenie David, LPN, has found the perfect workplace for her passion for hands-on nursing.
“I have a poem that talks about, how if you can help someone as you pass through life, then you’re not living in vain. I know my work here is not in vain,” David said.
A nurse for more than 30 years, she’s been with the VA for 15 of those.
“We don’t look at our residents as patients, because we’re all one family,” David said. “A lot of them call me ‘Mama,’ and they’ll ask me to trim their nails or give them a shave.
“It’s an honor to work with this group of veterans. They did so much for us and now it’s my turn to give back, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
The residents are the best part of the job, agreed Louise Velhoye, CNA, who has been with the VA for 21 years.
“I learn so much about life from them,” she said. “You can arrive in a bad mood because of the traffic or whatever, and they’ll greet you with ‘Where have you been?’ You just relax instantly.”
Longstreet has enjoyed all the parties and fuss over his 100th birthday and describes his plan for the future in one word — “continuation.”
“I’d like to keep up and keep going,” he said. “I’m in pretty good shape and am pretty well-off.”
To prove it, he got out of his wheelchair and headed toward his room with a walker. When Rozier said, ‘Ten-hut,’ he just grinned and kept on going.
