Assisted Living and a Pipe Smoking Lady

This is Gloria C.  I met Gloria while working on a short documentary project on Assisted Living last summer in Missoula, MT.  Gloria came to the U. S. from Panama approximately 70 years ago and is now living at the At Home Assisted Living Center.

Gloria spends much of her day watching TV.

Gloria spends much of her day in the large living room watching TV.  She prefers watching movies.  Her other favorite activity is sitting on the front porch at the assisted living center.

Gloria enjoys sitting on the front porch of the At Home Assisted Living Center.

While I was interviewing Gloria I noticed she was holding a pipe and matches in her hand.  When asked about it, she stated that she had taken up pipe smoking about 5 years ago to kick the cigarette habit.

Gloria took up pipe smoking to give up cigarettes.

Gloria lights up.

She is not the only female resident at the facility to take up pipe smoking.  A number of the other women smoke pipes as well and the front porch has a number of coffee cans filled with sand in which they empty their pipe ashes.

Gloria is in good company with other pipe smoking women.

Gloria was a woman of few words and interviewing her was a bit of a challenge, but I enjoyed my time with her and enjoyed getting to know her.  She was very cooperative and seemed to enjoy having her picture taken.

This was my first short documentary project and I had to push myself to converse with Gloria.  Like her, I am also usually a person of few words!  I gained a bit of confidence however, and left having made a new friend.