Award of Excellence
Craig F. Walker
The Denver Post
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"Cecil and Carl, In Sickness and in Health"
Conversation is scarce as Cecil and Carl smoke cigarettes near The Spearly Center before Carl returns him to his room. Carl, who was admitted to the Denver nursing home over a year ago, suffers from dementia. "You see, he's not Carl anymore," Cecil said. "He's almost like a little child. When I walk in to see him, the first thing he asks me is 'can we go for a smoke?" Cecil said he sometimes feels like Carl's cigarette dispenser, which bothers him. "I chatter like an irritated squirrel, and he just sits there. That's mighty hard to take."
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