Dutch is a history buff. He enjoys reading poems and historical stories. Gayla located and printed off two poems that Dutch had said were his very favorite but he hadn’t read in years. Dutch happily shared the poems with the other residents and BFMs.

Unfortunately, Rachelle’s very dear friend Ethel had to move out of Bickford to another community. Rachelle was very lonely and missed her terribly. Our Shopper’s Showcase was coming up and since Ethel had always participated in it,  Gayla picked up Ethel and brought her to Bickford so she could have lunch and spend the day with her friend Rachelle. They were so happy to be together again!

Kathryn loves butter mints! She claims they are the only thing that makes her sweet tooth smile and help settle her stomach when it is upset.  Whenever Kate brings her some she emphatically exclaims, “You’ve saved my life! You know how I love these!" And then she whispers, “Do I have to share?”

Carol keeps a large collection of beautiful ribbons in her apartment that she won at the State Fair for flower arranging. We decided it would be fun to recreate a flower arrangement with Carol. She spent the whole time sharing fond memories of her prize winning arrangements and expressed how much she loved getting to be creative again.

Janice’s husband often speaks of the times that he and Janice traveled. He shared that his favorite trip was the month they spent in Germany and the breakfasts they enjoyed there.  Kitchen Manager, Daneen decided to re-create one of the German breakfasts for Janice and her husband. While they ate, they shared brochures, a photo album, and the journals that they had kept while in Germany. He stated, “This is just wonderful. You have really gone out of your way to bring back a memory. Thank you.”

Wayne’s faith is very important to him and he is often seen with a rosary. In an effort to meet Wayne’s spiritual needs, Daneen says rosary with him once a week. She also reached out to the Catholic priest who comes to the Branch now and does communion.

Heinz was a school teacher and has a fondness for the arts and music. One of his favorite places is the Chicago Institute of Art. Latrika decided to bring the Art Institute to Heinz by creating a museum experience in his own apartment. She game him a book of art to look through, a record player to listen to music, and hung up posters of art that he enjoys. Heinz engages often with listening to music and enjoys doing so even more when others listen and engage with him.

Marilyn drove a Mustang convertible for many years of her life, and if you’ve met Marilyn, there’s a good chance you already knew this. Unfortunately, Marilyn has always regretted getting rid of the last Mustang she owned. Recently, she mentioned that she wanted to take one last ride. So that’s exactly what we did for her. We made arrangements to pick up Marilyn in a replica of her first Mustang and take her out on a drive, with the top down of course. Marilyn was shocked and filled with emotions when she walked outside and realized the Mustang was there for her. At the end of our drive, we decided to stop and get ice cream. When Marilyn walked in to the ice cream shop, she asked the cashier “Did you see what we just pulled up in? I used to have one just like it.” Even after a week had gone by since her ride, she was still asking everyone if they had seen her leave in “that Mustang”.