Stories and memories. They play a big role in who we are as people. Memories can be made by the things we do, and those that do things for us.
At Woodstone, we’ve adopted a program called “Dreams Can Come True”, a program that was developed by our management company several years ago. The basics of the program are to find out what are residents one wish would be and try to fulfill those wishes.
Our most recent Dream had come true at Woodstone of New Ulm.
Ruth joined our family at Woodstone of New Ulm last fall. She is very young at heart and just loves the color pink.
Ruth and Terra, the Community Life Coordinator, had a conversation when she moved in that she was going to have a significant birthday come up this year.
During the conversation, she told Terra that she has always wanted to pink princess dress and a tiara! She wanted to start thinking about throwing a party with her family for her birthday.
As time went on, she decided that she was going to wait on the party as it was hard to get everything organized. Her birthday was coming up soon, so a plan was hatched to help her celebrate her big day.
When the day arrived, she decided that she wanted to see a movie. Before we went to the movie theater in our community, the staff sang Happy Birthday at dinner so we could throw her off about the big surprise she had waiting for her after the movie.
While in the movie, the staff decorated everything pink and hung many balloons and streamers!
When the move was over, Terra escorted her to a room that had a pink formal princess dress for her to wear, along with a tiara and flowers.
She was so happy! We got her all dolled up! Jim, her escort, came and we walked her down to her surprise party.
She followed the pink pedals that were scattered on the floor.
On the way, she told us that she had never in her lifetime had a surprise party! She was so happy to see everyone sitting and waiting for her special arrival to her party. We celebrated the afternoon with pink cake and punch.
Memories and the stories that they hold are very powerful. Big or small, they can make a difference in someone’s life. We were very happy that we could make this moment in her life one to remember.
What’s your dream?
