On Friday, our class went for their first visit of the new year to Spruce Manor. We knew we would be going over to play bingo with the residents, so ahead of time we practiced playing bingo, as well as practiced how to help someone play bingo.

 

When Friday morning came, it was beautiful, warm and sunny. We got to enjoy that sunshine on our walk over, then had a great time with the residents when we arrived! As always, our group of students brought, gave, and shared many smiles to and with the residents!

 

When we got back, as usual, we had a little debrief about our experience. Just like each time before, I was blown away with the compassion, empathy, insight, and care that shone through in our students’ comments and thoughts. Here are some of my favorite comments that were shared:

 

“My resident I was with didn’t talk that much, but when I saw her smiling and laughing I knew that she was having fun together with me…That made me feel so happy and good because I think that us being there helped make her day more fun!”

 

“I think we can really help other people have fun and maybe remind them of happy memories when they were young or when their children were young.”

 

“I think it is nice for them when we visit because it is really nice to have someone to play with and I don’t think they always have someone to play with or talk to.”

 

“I was kind of sad to leave because I had so much fun with my resident!”

 

“My resident remembered my name and that makes me think I am kind of like her friend. That reminds me of when we talked about how you can be friends with anyone, even if they are older than you!”

 

We hope to continue to our visits and build some of those bonds, as well as grow ourselves as people and community members! These visits are always a great time to remind us that no matter how small we may be, we have so much to offer and can make a difference in peoples days and lives if we put forth the effort!

-Miss Fichtner