One of the things I love best about my job is hearing stories about how the senior living, assisted living and memory care communities we manage make a difference and touch the lives of residents and their families.
I wanted to share with you a story I heard earlier this week about a resident who lives at Grand Prairie of Macomb, an affordable assisted living community in western Illinois.
Here is Cora’s Story as told in her own words:
My life made a big change in 2017. My daughter was losing her battle with lung cancer, so I was taking care of her. During that time, I fell and splintered the femur bone in my leg. After surgery and lots of screws in my leg, I was able to try and go ahead with my life. My son was worried about me, and where I was living became unfit. At that time, I told him I would like to go see Grand Prairie. When we got there to take a tour, we were welcomed by some very nice people. They said they had a room for me, so we said “okay, this is it!” The community was clean, and the people so friendly. It didn’t take long to call it home.
I still had a long recovery ahead of me, so I got into therapy where I met even more friendly people. I knew I had to work hard to heal both physically and mentally. I had lost my daughter before moving into Grand Prairie.
Along with therapy, I kept very busy by participating in every activity and function I could. I was part of the welcoming committee for new residents, and I ended up leading the exercise classes three days a week. I even made a Facebook ad for our annual bake sale. I went to the Catholic Church every week to fold bulletins.
I made so many friends along to way. I made a point to learn everyone’s name so we could stop and chat in the hallways so they could enjoy their time at Grand Prairie.
I have learned to move forward and not look back. My heart is full of love. I look forward to the next chapter in my life and thank Grand Prairie for helping me get here.
We, at Gardant, our touched that Grand Prairie could make such a difference in Cora’s life story.