Mickey House is a tall, elegant white male who appears to be in his mid to late eighties. He
is always well-dressed with shirts and pants ironed and shoes neatly shined. He is the only mar-
ried resident of the five men selected for the case studies. He has been married to his wife for
ical decline. She has dementia and is wheelchair-bound. In addition, her hearing, vision, and au-
ditory functions have declined. She is unable to execute any ADLs. The House’s have fulltime nursing assistance because Mickey cannot assist his wife. He uses a wheelchair and gets con-
fused often because of his own dementia.
Mickey and his wife moved to the Pink Home in 2008. In spite of Mickey’s diagnosis of
dementia, he participates in Pink Home activities when his sitter takes him to the parlor. He es-
pecially enjoys singing hymns. He always sings loudly, and some residents complain that he
sings too loudly. However, they seem to be more amused than upset at his thunderous pitch.
Mickey’s impaired cognitive functioning sometimes leads to confusion and occasional outbursts. His dependence on his sitter to take him downstairs for activities impedes his independent active
participation in community life. However, he is known to be friendly and cordial.
Mickey and his wife have two children, including a son who resides in the Metro Atlanta
region and remains active in his parents’ lives. His daughter lives near Macon, GA and makes the 1.5 hour commute regularly to visit her parents. Paul’s biological sister lives within three miles of the Pink Home and visits often with her family.
There is no record of military service for Mickey, but his work life revolved around an
ice cream shop he ran in Atlanta for many years. Mickey’s line of business exposed him to all classes of life in Atlanta and he became an important member of the civic society. Mickey main-
tained active membership in the local United Methodist Church until functional decline made it
increasingly difficult to participate in church life. He still visits his church occasionally.
Mickey greets everyone he encounters, including staff, residents, and visitors, a trait like-
ly developed during his years as franchise operator. He makes friends easily, though some resi-
According to Mr. Toe, he did not know Mickey before coming to AL for day care and the two
have gradually become friendly. The men share a table on Wednesdays when Mr. Toe attends
the Pink Home’s day care program. They enjoy “reading” the newspaper and spending time to- gether going through the pages of the daily paper. In view of Mickey’s dementia, it is difficult to determine the extent to which he is aware of the relationship.
Mickey has a past acquaintance in the Pink Home, though he may not be aware of her
presence in the home. Mickey and the past acquaintance, Ms. Gibson, were friends as youth and
attended the same Methodist church. They talked on the phone often as adolescence, but several
decades have elapsed since they last made contact. It seems likely that Ms. Gibson is reluctant to
reveal her presence in the home out of respect for Mickey’s wife. Ms. Gibson’s feeling about the
current situation is expressed in the following field note excerpt:
During the interview, Ms. Gibson informed me that she and Mr. Mickey House
knew each other before they moved into the Pink Home. But, she does not con-
sider him as a friend at this point in her life. As children, Mr. House and Ms. Gib-
son attended the same Methodist church and he used to call her on the phone. At
some point, they lost touch and he got married. Ms. Gibson did not know Mrs.
House before moving to the Pink Home, and she mentioned that she does not
want Mrs. House to find out that she and Mr. House used to talk on the phone.
Mickey and Mrs. Gibson have no recorded interactions in the Pink Home. It is unclear if Mickey
is aware of her presence in the home.
Mickey enjoys playing Bingo and usually partners with Lily Harry, probably because she
is the only one who is willing to partner with him and because Mrs. House is unable to partici-
and physical challenges. Lily is partially blind and relies on Mickey to read the numbers for her.
However, they do not have a relationship outside of Bingo. Gender influences the relationship to
the extent that Mickey volunteered to collaborate with Lily and assist her during Bingo.