My grandmother Ione Harrison was my best friend and companion growing up. She was a strong, independent woman and in her 70's had the s***k & sass of any 20 year old. She loved to dance, and flirt and you could always find her cheering on her favorite football team or Nascar driver. She was even on a bowling league! When my grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer's it was all the more devastating th
at this vibrant 70 year young woman was about to change right before our eyes. After a few years of living with her children my grandma moved into Heartland Nursing Home & fortunately we were close enough to visit every day. My mother noticed, however, many of the residents didn't have any family or friends to visit them. About 10 years after my grandma passed my mother felt a calling to go back to the nursing home to show the elderly residents that someone was thinking about them and cared. So, two years ago my family and I gathered up boxes of collected, donated, and purchased stuffed animals and drove to Heartland Nursing Home on Christmas Eve to visit with each and every resident there and give them a soft teddy bear, or a stuffed puppy, and someone to talk to. It was an experience that transformed my family and reminded us what the true spirit of the Holiday is all about. Every single person we visited was so grateful to have someone to talk to that many of them cried, clung tight to their gifts, and gave us hugs that were worth more to me than any gift I would open on Christmas morning. I could feel my grandmother's spirit and see her when i looked into the excited, joyful eyes of the Heartland residents and I know the rest of my family felt it too. Even my 23 year old brother was brought to tears multiple times during our few hours at the home. it has become a tradition for my family to not only visit on Christmas Eve but every holiday. The first year we donated not only our own childhood stuffed animals, but collected them from family and friends and when we didn't have enough we bought the stuffed animals ourself to make sure that every resident had at least one gift for Christmas. If you are interested in helping in some way you can send us your stuffed animals or even adopt a nursing home in your own community. If you are doing something similar i would love you to share your story here.
