Aww, look what we got! The sweetest thing :)

[polka]

The kids and I went to the senior assistant living center this morning to pass out Valentines and strawberry muffins to the residents.

I let the girls do whatever they wanted to the Valentines, lol, so they ended up all looking pretty much like this (and they put Valentine's Day stickers and stamps on the insides):



.


But the residents got a kick out of them and loved receiving the cards.  

The girls remembered most of them from when we last visited at Christmas time.  And they have them a Frozen "concert".  lol  It was a lot of fun.

While we were getting ready to leave, one of my resident buddies handed me an envelope and said she'd been holding on to it since Christmas.  Then she put her hands over mine and said, "I smile from time to time, but my biggest smiles come from seeing you." 

When I got home, this is what I found in the envelope:



.


Two McDonalds' gift cards and a little note (handwritten on the senior center's letterhead, in two different ink colors.  lol  she is so cute!)

The note says:

To the granddaughter I never had (MyName) and your two sweet daughters,

I wasn't expecting visitors for the holidays, but then my wish came true.  Thank you for making this old lady's day.  I hope these will make yours too.

With love,
Ruth LastName


AHHH I love her.   (heart)  

[luckyval]

You guys need to stop with the sweetness today. I was ready to be all cynical about Valentine's.

That is so sweet, polka! Now I want to do this with Hart.

[spitforspat]

Omg, thank you for visiting her!

[Deleted]

:-( That's SO SWEET!!!

And look at you. Best mom ever. I love all you do with your girls.

[8675309]

That is SUCH a wonderful thing for you to share with your kids. I need to start doing something like this. My heart melted!

[Amy]

well this is the best thing ever!

[CityLights]

Ahh so sweet!

This board keeps making me cry, in a good way, today.

[firedancer49]

That's so sweet!

[bonquiqui]

This made me tear up for real   (heart)

[birdistheword]

Thinking about lonely elderly people just breaks my heart. I'm so glad you guys do this. Also, how did she know about your deep love for mcdonalds?!

[AmeliaBedelia]

Oh my goodness! So sweet.

[piaffe]

What a wonderful thing to do for people. I'm glad you touched someone in such a special way.

[frannyr]

thanks for doing what you do! What a sweet surprise

[Deleted]

That totally made me cry. That's so incredibly sweet.

[bonquiqui]

Taking the wife out to lunch to celebrate at McDonald's?

[trixie12]

How sweet! Her note made me get all teary-eyed.

[snickers]

So sweet!!!!

[muffin0]

Love!!!

[polka]

luckyval and Que?, H and G would love it!  And the residents will be so happy to see them  so many of them love spending time and talking to people, especially with little ones.  But don't get visitors often

I have been going to visit around every holiday and about once every month when I get a chance, since I stopped working there.  

But this past Christmas was the first time I took the girls with me, and now that I see how much they and the residents love the visits, I'm planning on taking them with me every time from now on!  The kids are a lot more fun to them than me ;-)

[luckyval]

Feb 14, 2014 14:22:13 GMT -5 polka said:

luckyval and Que?, H and G would love it!  And the residents will be so happy to see them  so many of them love spending time and talking to people, especially with little ones.  But don't get visitors often

I have been going to visit around every holiday and about once every month when I get a chance, since I stopped working there.  This past Christmas was the first time I took the girls with me, and now that I see how much they and the residents love the visits, I'm planning on taking them with me every time from now on!  The kids are a lot more fun to them than me ;-)

Do you guys just stop in when you can, or do you get in touch with the facility manager first? Or did you go through a volunteer program?

[miniroller]

Oh polka!! That is just so awesome!!! The whole thing. You've definitely inspired me....

[Deleted]

*tear*

[polka]

Feb 14, 2014 14:24:18 GMT -5 luckyval said:

Feb 14, 2014 14:22:13 GMT -5 polka said:

luckyval and Que?, H and G would love it!  And the residents will be so happy to see them  so many of them love spending time and talking to people, especially with little ones.  But don't get visitors often

I have been going to visit around every holiday and about once every month when I get a chance, since I stopped working there.  This past Christmas was the first time I took the girls with me, and now that I see how much they and the residents love the visits, I'm planning on taking them with me every time from now on!  The kids are a lot more fun to them than me ;-)

Do you guys just stop in when you can, or do you get in touch with the facility manager first? Or did you go through a volunteer program?

When I used to stop in just for a quick visit by myself, I wouldn't call first.  I have been going for years though, so I already knew their lunch and dinner schedules.  I just sign in, and hang out in the common area or outside on the patio with the residents that are already sitting there.

But for today and last time, when I took the girls with me, I had called ahead of time to get the number of residents so we had enough valentines and muffins.  And to let them know what time we'd be there, so they could plan for it and announce it in their newsletter lol

I would definitely call whichever center you are interested first and find out about volunteering.    

It also depends on the facility.  An independent retirement or senior center (where the residents don't have medical needs) will have different rules than an assisted living home or a convalescent hospital.

Good luck!  Hope Hart has fun

[saucyc]

I wish I could like this 10000 times!

and you gave me an idea, we are going to visit H's great grandma this weekend, I am going to have the kids make cards for all of the resident's on her floor.

Thank you for the inspiration! (heart)

[snipsnsnails]

Yay! Ruth sounds like a hoot and a sweetheart!

The assisted living facility where my grandparents live always has loads of fruit sitting out on the common area tables and Vincenzo loads up all the fruit and then runs around the whole place and passes it out. Ha! The little old Ruths there are always pinching his cheeks and he laughs and laughs.

[W.T.Faulkner]

Polka, my grandmom is in a nursing home, and because of her Alzheimer's, she forgets that she lives there permanently. She cries a lot because she's frustrated that she doesn't feel good and that she can't remember things about her day.  She's lucky to have at least one visitor from her family most days, but she needs as much love as she can get, you know?

The thought of somebody like you and your girls being there to visit when I can't (because of work during the day) means a LOT to me. On behalf of everybody who loves somebody in a nursing home, thanks for making them smile.

[Jermys]

[juliagoulia]

:-) you rock.

[mellymel]

That is so sweet, I love it!

[polka]

snipsnsnails that is so adorable!

W.T.Faulkner  (heart)

Que? I hope you guys have fun! We can go anytime during the visiting hours too (unless we want to plan an activity, we call ahead).  They don't limit time for kids at this one though, lol.  But they do at the convalescent home where I volunteered.  

Oh, and luckyval, I see you asked about volunteers.  We go as visitors, volunteering will have other requirements as well.  So ask about the two, depending on what you want to do.  Every place is different though and will have different rules.