As a Milwaukeean, you're bound to be affected by the new documentary "Almost Home." Filmed at Saint John's on the Lake -- a retirement community at 1840 N. Prospect Ave. -- "Almost Home" is a moving documentary about people who live, work and visit in an "old-age home."
Scenes of Milwaukee streets, the Lakefront, The Milwaukee Art Museum and other locales present our city in a picturesque manner that will make you, as a Milwaukeean, proud. But, vastly more important, you'll be affected if you have a grandparent, parent, friend or spouse in a nursing home.
As 76 million strong baby boomers turn 60 next year, 50 percent of Americans will be reckoning with either their own aging or that of a loved one. It's not easy for anyone, but everyone will feel the challenges, opportunities, risks and rewards of aging. "Almost Home" tells real stories of aging right here in Milwaukee. Many of them are frightening, some tender and funny, others surprising, but all are honest.
Brad Lichtenstein, director, co-producer, outreach director, and founder of 371 Productions, has been working in film and television since 1992. In "Almost Home" he gives viewers an inside and personal view into the lives of many residents, families and those who care for them. The film follows one couple bonded by their struggle with Alzheimer's and another divided by the challenges of Parkinson's, forty-something (many call them the "sandwich generation") children torn between caring for their parents in the home, their own kids and their careers, nursing assistants doing critical but sometimes unsavory duties while juggling their own personal lives, healthy seniors who fear the day they may have to move into a home, and a young nursing home director (John George) leading a culture change movement that is based in his horrible childhood visits to the nursing home where his mom worked.
The movie tells a surprisingly gripping, yet not overly depressing story from the start. It's real and it offers hope where many could easily think there is none. The economic challenges of health care come through loud and clear in the film as top management discuss innovation while debating financial risk versus allotment of staff resources. Can the "old ways" of care giving be reversed while still making money for center? The way things have always been done is "more convenient," says one nurse. But, tolerating inhumane, impersonal and institutional care isn't an option for St. John's -- it's simply a scary memory for the home's director.
The film features Lloyd Herrold, a notable local who was once the president of the Milwaukee Art Museum board, among other things. His Parkinson's has more than slowed him, but his passion and sense of discovery still shine though. Bob Haig is also featured in the film. The healthy 90-year-old still works in his photography studio as he struggles with his wife's Alzheimer's. He's angry that her disease has slowed her, but dresses her each morning as if their socialite lives have not changed. It's nothing to laugh at, but you will smile at his determination and his desire to make their lives work. You may also cry at this film. Actually, you will. If you know anyone in a home, "Almost Home" will touch you and affect you. It may also worry you.
Lichtenstein says "Almost Home" may be just a movie, but a movie can be powerful. It can be inspire us to change. It can help us trade denial for clarity about our futures. It can ignite our capacities for empathy. If 'Almost Home' does any of this for you, then it will have been well worth the effort. This writer guarantees one thing, "Almost Home" will affect you.
"Almost Home" screens 7 p.m. on Wed., Nov. 2 at UWM's Zelazo Center, 2419 E. Kenwood Blvd. The screening will be following by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Call (414) 229-6771. The movie will air Jan. 31, 2006 on PBS.
A Web site for the film and on aging in America is at almosthomedoc.org
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
