A heartfelt welcome to the Ladies Social Club from St. Stephen Deacon and Martyr Catholic Church to our community! This morning, the ladies from St. Stephens church joined us for a wonderful visit fowlloing Mass with Father Matt. It was a lovely time of introductions and fellowship for everyone. We are pleased that our residents from Assisted Living and Mary B's will be joining their club in pursuit of community outreach. We are looking forward to gathering on the second Wednesday, morning of every month to work together on projects that serve and support our community.

It is nice that our residents are truly taking the lead here at Bickford of Tinley Park & Montessori Memory Care. Following our Montessori philosophy of providing our residents with a meaningful role, we have officially launched our resident-led committees. Our January meeting was a wonderful example of this in action, where the residents didn't just attend—they ran the show. The meeting started with Milan, our President-Elect, who officially opens the session and provides final approval for our initiatives. Dawn, our Director leads the discussion by asking the thoughtful questions that matter most to our community, while our Secretary, Alice, meticulously captures every note and idea. Alice and Milan even kept a watchful eye on Matt just yesterday to ensure our brand-new suggestion box was installed exactly right. We were happy to see Patricia place the very first suggestion in the box.

The Heart of Our Home; Dining at Bickford. At Bickford, we believe the dining room is the heart of the home. It’s where stories are shared and friendships are built over great food. We want to recognize our hard-working kitchen team and share some highlights from our dining room this week! Our Bread Basket Manager, **Sandra**, leads the kitchen and handles the primary cooking, bringing the highest level of culinary skill to our residents' favorite meals. Working alongside her are Assistant Cooks **Melinda** and our newest addition **Nichole**, who both bring great energy to our daily recipes. **Tonia** manages our kitchen prep work with support from **Evalyn**. The dining room has been full of life lately! We’ve captured some great moments, including **Lizzy** using our new POS tablet system to keep every resident's order organized. It’s always a pleasure to see our **families** gathering together while waiting for dinner and residents like **Mary** arriving to join us for a meal. Our dining room and dietary department are also supported by **Eric, Janis, Evalyn, Chuck, and Naheem**, who serve as our Dining Assistants. **Please check the "Week at a Glance" board in the dining room for our weekly February menu!**

Welcome to our Bickford Family! It is a pleasure to see new friendships forming throughout our home. Please join us in giving a very warm Bickford welcome to our newest residents: Shirley & Robert. We are looking forward to getting to know you both better.

Wishing Helen a wonderful 98th Birthday today! May your day be as bright and lovely as the smiles you share with us every day.

A New Chapter: Family, Friendships and New Cherished Memories! Sometimes, everything comes full circle in the most beautiful way. Today, we would like to welcome to our Bickford family- Elsie! For those of you who have been with us for a while, you know Ralph. Ralph has been a beloved resident since 2018, originally moving in with his wife, Hermina. While we miss Hermina, her spirit was truly present when we welcomed her sister, Ralph's sister- in -law , Elsie to her new home. Before moving into Bickford, Elsie would call Ralph every single week just to check in, and now the calls will turn into daily visits! Elsie's first day was nothing short of eventful; she jumped right into the fun with a few rounds of Bingo with her daughter-in-law, Nancy by her side and winning three games. Followed by Wine & Cheese social to getting to know our residents, and by joining Ralph at his table during dinner meeting more new friends. To top of the perfect day, Elsie even shared a quiet, soulful conversation with her new neighbor, Ann, showing Ann that" home" is not where you live, but about the new friendships and family legacies we build together. Welcome home, Elsie

A Taste of Something Special! We are delighted to welcome Kristin Gonzalez and Kelsi Stricker from LUXE Home Health & Hospice to our community yesterday. They stopped at our home to treat our residents to a wonderful Wine & Cheese social, and our afternoon was a success. Their visit provided the perfect backdrop to our "Getting to Know You" circle. Its always a pleasure to meet professionals in the area who are dedicated to bringing joy to seniors. We are happy to announce that Kristin & Kelsie will be returning over the next few months to sponsor more special events with us! Thank you Kristen and Kelsi for a lovely afternoon.

Our newest "All Star" Volunteer! Our community was in full bloom today. Our residents had a wonderful time today during our Flower Arrangement Class led by our newest volunteer Ryan who attends Andrew High School! Our residents got hands-on with fresh roses, daisies and a variety of other beautiful flowers. There is nothing like the fresh scent of fresh flowers to brighten up a winter afternoon. Not only did he lead our flower class with such patience and care, but he also helped our dietary BFM (Bickford Family Member) Evalyn to serve drinks to our residents this afternoon for lunch.It's days like this that makes our days so special.

"The heart never forgets a good beat". In a Montessori- inspired environment, we believe that every moment is a ln opportunity for engagement. When a fun beat after lunch caught Darla's and George's attention, they couldn't help themselves but to dance. A moment of spontaneity, they turned the living room into their own dance floor. Seeing them lead on the dance floor, reminds us that dance doesn't need to be a perfect memory to be felt deeply. Can you imagine the energy they brought in their prime? We bet they were the life of the party. (There is a video of Darla and George dancing on our Facebook page, Bickford of Tinley Park.)

The Life Song of Billie Cox: A Masterpiece in Progress. Every resident upon moving into Bickford, we ask families to write a unique "Life Song", and for 81 year old - Billie, the melody is as vibrant as a fresh canvas. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1944, Billie spent a lifetime seeing the world in a designer's eye. This artistic journey actually began with her mother -whose beautiful paintings of sailboats and nature still hang on Billies wall today and it continued through her days at Depaw University and her successful career as an interior designer. After her career as a designer, Billie spent two years as a teacher. Her most cherished role was creating a home for her late husband, David and their three children: Kelly, Dan ,Tom and her grandson Eland. Her deep love for her family and her lifelong passion for raising horses, dogs and cats is captured perfectly in her artwork, including two cherished paintings of her son Tom, playing with his yellow trucks and the other painting holding their family cat. To help Billie keep writing her song while navigating through Alzheimer's, we used a specialized, one-on-one approach that prioritizes her dignity and her safety. This morning in Billie's apartment during therapy, you can see the wonderful bond between Billie and her wonderful Occupational Therapist, Brittany, from Fox Rehabilitation. They work together to maintain Billies fine motor skills and dexterity. Billie has used for decades to sketch interiors and care for her animals. Because Billie's journey sometimes leads her to mistake paint for food, I have adapted her "prepared environment" using Montessori principles. By introducing the a specialized water-activated pallet, we allowed Billie to use her brushes and techniques safely. This innovation means we never take the brush out of her hand; we simply change the tools that fits her needs. This sense of community and purpose was on full display today as Charolette, a friend from our Assisted Living nieghborhood and Joyce from Mary B's stopped by Billies apartment to admire her paintings. It was a beautiful connection that proves Billie is still teaching us all how to find beauty in every single day.