When my husband, Shawn and I were in Nashville, Tennessee, the hotel we stayed at had one of those pull down seats for our tub/shower.

This contraption provoked Shawn to make comments about my assisting patients with their showers etc., which provoked me to hold my head up high proclaiming I give the best showers!

My residents know they are in for a treat when one of the first things I have them do once they’re in the shower is, I pour body wash in their hands, and I tell them to go ahead and wash them.

When they raise their eyebrows in wonder, I know this wasn’t part of their shower routine when they were doing it themselves.

But when I explain to them that we have to start things off with a clean slate, they nod their head understanding.

Even my residents with dementia left the shower room feeling that shower power!

I would receive verbal notes filled with gratitude, telling me that was a wonderful shower and/or that I give the best showers.

I would document in their notes that so and so received a “glorious” shower because those were the only kind I gave.

I did, however have one female resident who didn’t appreciate receiving a glorious shower and walked out of the shower room huffing and puffing, saying, “Boy, that was a process!”

And you know what? She was right.

Showering is a process and it’s one I have always taken seriously.

I love to take super hot showers and because I move slower rather than faster, it takes me around 30 minutes per shower. If I have to shave, then longer.

When I was still living at home, the time I spent in the shower would drive my parents nuts.

To this day, in fact he did it around a month ago, my brother Ben likes to bring up the times my dad turned off the hot water on me or shut the water off completely because I was taking too long.

My mom did that once to me too.

But I’m resilient and even when I got covid, I would drag my little sick, weak self into the shower, never missing a day.

I remember reading about people who because of the lockdowns, showered less or stopped showering period.

I can’t.

I never miss a day and I never leave the house without showering first.

Once, when Shawn and I were dating, he called to the house and my dad told him I couldn’t come to the phone because I was doing my “purification ritual”.

When Shawn told me later what my dad had said, I was so embarrassed.

Now that I’m older, it’s all water down the drain and it makes me smile when I think about my dad telling Shawn that because it is as if I treat showering as if it was a purification ritual.

~missy salcido wead