Spreading Holiday Cheer at Bello Gardens Assisted Living

Sunday, December 8th 2024

By: Charlotte Hendrey

As the holidays roll in, I felt that the residents of Bello Gardens Assisted Living could use some festive cheer! Today, I brought along an assortment of holiday-themed art supplies to create… christmas ornaments!

When I arrived, I got everybody up from the couch to gather around the craft table so we could make ornaments. As always, I began by reintroducing myself “Hello everyone! I’m Charlotte!” because I know their dementia makes it difficult for some of them to remember my name. Today was especially exciting because more people than usual decided to participate in the fun. In the far left image, (from left to right) Nancy, César, Ralph, and Carol holding up their completed ornaments.

They all had such fun pealing off the christmasy stickers and creating cute Christmas scenes on their ornaments. Carol was very interested in the reindeer sticker, which sparked a whole conversation at the table about reindeers. I pointed to the elf sticker, explaining to them that the elves help Santa make all the presents for good boys and girls on Christmas. When they all finished decorating their ornaments, I tied string to them so that they could be hung up on the Christmas tree. Hanging the ornaments up together brought a warm cozy feel of togetherness in the home of Bello Gardens today.

I made sure that Charlie, who has a hard time getting up from the couch because of his physical disability, felt included too. In past posts, I have written about his love for Bach (which I play on the piano), so I offered to play for him while we worked on the ornaments. He watched blissfully as I played, and urged me to continue, to which I happily obliged. Charlie is a sensitive soul, and started to cry as he told me about his love for Bach. “I worship him!”, he said with tears in his cheeks as I sat down to comforted him.

I sent the pictures I had taken today (above) to Shelly (the events coordinator for the assisted living homes who I plan activities with). I was hit with a wonderful wave of appreciation from Shelly. She responded, texting me, “My dear and darling Charlotte!!! These are such festive pics! Thanks for bringing The magic, every time you are here”.

The following text that she sent me seemed to be meant for somebody else. It read, “We must get Charlotte some sort of gift for Christmas. Charlotte 👏👏👏👏👏 A 9th grader!” Shelly then told me that she had meant to send that text to her colleagues, and continued to thank me. I told her how appreciative and beyond grateful I was for her gesture. The fact that she is thinking of me when doing her gift-giving makes me feel so loved.

Ever since I began planning these activities, I’ve felt like I’ve joined a big, loving family. Moments like these remind me of what this season is truly about — bringing people together and celebrating the bonds we share.