We are doing this whole “one good deed a day” for every day this Lent and todays may be hard to top. I am going to have to come up with some great ideas for the next coming weeks because todays deed really touched me and made me think long and hard about a lot of things. Today we went to the local retirement home to visit and leave them with some masterpieces by my tiny artists.
My pals spent a few hours drawing pictures on colored construction paper. Their favorite thing to do was 2 people holding hands with hearts all around and then Mom (aka boss aka me) wrote simple quotes above the drawings that said: You are loved, Have a happy day, Smile, You are super!
We divided our pictures up so each pal had 11 to hand out. (The giant baby was not having it). He was just there to get right down to business also known as causing trouble in his Packers hat complete with horns and his blaze orange jacket. With this get up, he is guaranteed not to get lost. Well. almost guaranteed
(His standard causing trouble outfit)
The kids started out very sheepishly but warmed up once we met a sweet woman with the biggest smile ever. She asked Eden what her name was and after Eden told her, she very cheerily said, “I am Gwendolyn and this sign you gave me says ‘Have a Happy Day’ so that is just what I am going to do. I love it.”
We went around the room until each person had one, passed out a few little hugs and some big smiles. We had 4 leftover that we gave to a nurse to bring to some residents who were not able to come out for snack time. I admit the kids were taken a back at first as it was a new environment. It was very sterile so it felt more like an institution or hospital versus just a home where old people hang out together as I had played it up in their mind. This was a state run center so the frills were lacking. It was very different than the lovely center where my sweet Grammy spent some time. Although they did have a birdcage that the kids loved and one lady in particular had a very large futuristic looking wheelchair that L.A. made sure and told her was “so cool.”
As the kids comfort level grew, the residents smiles grew even more. Even as we walked into the room, without saying a word the entire room just lit up with smiles and you could see it in their eyes, you really could. They loved have the young blood in there, loved the energy and loved even more the hand drawn picture they were left with. It also didn’t hurt that my giant baby was just running around like Dennis the Menace grinning from ear to ear. He had few stare downs with some residents. Overall, EVERYONE got something out of this act of kindness – the residents, my kids, the staff and even me. I was overwhelmed and so proud of my pals for just jumping right in and making sure everyone got a picture and a smile.
I wish I had taken some photos but it just didn’t seem right. I didn’t want them to feel pressured or uncomfortable so we decided to take the mental memory this time and remember sweet Gwendolyn. My pals already want to start working on another stack of pictures and we will do this once a week in lent.
It was amazing that something so easy, so affordable and not very time consuming could make such an amazing impact on these somewhat lonely seniors that need extra love. After all, who doesn’t need extra love?
Until tomorrow.