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| What's YOUR life dream??? |
CeeBee |
09/17/04 |
Lady's wild ride sets nursing home abuzz
By Karen Mellen
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 17, 2004
Seated in front of the camel's hump, her hot pink capris dangling, 83-year-old Evelyn Roberts was the center of attention Thursday as she lived her dream of riding the gangly beast outside Sunny Hill Skilled Rehab Center in Joliet.
Her face framed in large plastic sunglasses, Roberts waved to the 100 or so residents who watched her ride, pointed at caregivers with cameras who shouted her name and tossed out one-liners to journalists.
"It's kind of bumpy," she said of the journey, which was arranged by a charity that helps grant wishes to seniors in much the way Make-A-Wish Foundation of America serves children with life-threatening medical conditions.
Asked later whether she had any other dreams, Roberts, who has cancer and uses a wheelchair, said: "I wanted to spend a foggy night in a lighthouse with Jack Klugman." [from CeeBee - this dream of hers made my day!]
Roberts' adventure was sponsored in part by Georgia-based Second Wind Dreams, an organization that aims to combat depression and loneliness among people in nursing homes by giving them the chance to live experiences they had only imagined.
Riding a camel is among the most unusual fantasies Second Wind Dreams has entertained, founder and CEO P.K. Beville said. But she said the fact that seniors come up with wacky ideas is proof that no matter the age, people want to explore life.
"I think the bottom line of what we're trying to do here is, try to bring to the forefront that even though they may be old and frail and living in a long-term care setting, that doesn't mean they've stopped dreaming," she said.
Second Wind Dreams solicits contributions from local sources to offset the expense of the wish. In this case, employees of the Joliet Police Department came up with the entire $650 fee for the camel ride.
Roberts was not alone in enjoying the generosity. Several other nursing home residents took a spin on the 1,900-pound animal from Jo-Don Farm in Franksville, Wis.
They included Earl Bush, 78, who has lived at Sunny Hill for two years because of Parkinson's disease. His wife, Barbara, encouraged him to ride, even though their daughter was against it.
"He's always wanted to jump out of an airplane. Never did it," Barbara Bush said of her husband, who learned how to fly a small plane solo after serving in World War II but soon abandoned flying.
"He wanted to go up in a hot-air balloon. Never did it. I just think it's wonderful," she said of the ride.
Beville said a study she conducted concluded everyone at a nursing home benefits from such excitement. And Second Wind Dreams strives to get the community involved, as happened in Joliet.
For more than two hours, residents and staff at Sunny Hill rode 17-year-old Einstein. But for more than a week, the home had been buzzing.
"We had residents do research on the Internet on camels," said Karen Isberg Sorbero, facility administrator.
Beville said Second Wind averages two to three dreams a day and has expanded into India, Israel and Canada. Some requests are heartbreaking, she said, such as the person who wanted to be loved. In that case, she said the group worked with a church and found someone to spend time with the senior.
"Sixty to 70 percent of elders don't get visitors," said Beville, a former clinical psychologist. "This is just inexcusable in a society that has so much to give."
But in most cases, the wishes are for fun, such as the man who rode in a big-rig that cruised more than 100 miles an hour on a closed West Virginia highway.
Another time, Beville said, an elderly man with a hip fracture became motivated to attend therapy every day because he wanted to visit a horse farm but could do so only after he could walk with a walker.
And in another unusual case, a woman who always wanted to walk down the aisle was "married" to herself in a ceremony with a donated gown and cake.
"She was a beautiful bride," Beville said.
Roberts' relatives weren't surprised that she expressed her wish and it came to fruition.
"Today, people talk about the liberated woman," said her nephew, Charlie Brown of Diamond. "She was a liberated woman in the 1950s."
A native of Joliet, Evelyn Roberts lived in Southern California for 32 years, often traveling to the mountains or Las Vegas. Divorced with no children, she moved back to Joliet two decades ago and started volunteering with Catholic Charities as a companion to the elderly as a way to get out of her apartment.
She moved to Sunny Hill about nine months ago because her cancer had spread, leaving her today at 93 pounds. Two months ago, she told a nursing home worker about her wish, a desire she said came from watching old movies.
In spite of the changes in her life, she keeps going. She tosses around her opinions, such as her admiration for George W. Bush (especially when he is wearing casual garb at his ranch), smokes about a pack of cigarettes a day and assists fellow residents with daily tasks.
"Why be sad?" asked Roberts, who relaxed after the ride with her first cigarette of the day. "Some people like to be pitied. I don't."
She said she hopes other residents at Sunny Hill will come up with another dream.
"Or I'll think of something," Roberts said. "I've got nothing else to do."
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune |
Clarification/Follow-up by madima on 09/17/04 1:50 pm:
But dearest Carol, I've been riding camels since I was fifteen! :=) (And I prefer the Bactrian!)
Don't worry, I'll send you pics - if I can get a gadget that withstands cosmic particles! :=)
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