As much as I love the fall color season, the weeks leading up to Christmas are equally as joyful and uplifting for me. While I thoroughly enjoy the annual routine of setting up the Christmas tree with my mom and decorating as many rooms with Christmas lights and decor as I can, I especially love hearing the stories of how people are giving back to their fellow community members at this time of year.
In this week’s Enterprise “Silver” special section, I wrote a story about area nursing homes kicking off their adopt-a-resident programs this month. Numerous facilities like Maple Valley Nursing Home, Northport Highlands, and Medilodge of Leelanau launch these programs every year to help brighten the holidays for residents, some of which may not have family or friends to be there for them. Local activity directors have shared that the wrapped presents residents receive from those in the community mean so much, and being able to open up these gifts on Christmas eve truly helps to make Christmas day that much brighter. For the last several years I’ve spoken to directors about the positive impact the adopt–a-resident program has on all involved, both for those giving gifts and for those that receive them — and it’s always a sweet reminder of the good in this world.
Before making my move to the west side of the state, I previously worked at a Medilodge in Alpena as an activity assistant and was lucky enough to get to know many of the residents at the facility. Candy bingo was a definite highlight of the day for people, but so was bowling in the lunchroom and arts and crafts time. The small wins were actually big wins for those that participated in games/activities — most residents just seemed to enjoy the interactions they had with others on a daily basis though.
