Community: Williamstown
Submitted by: Teasha McAllister
Department: Connections
Nominees: Mrs. A and Mr. B
One afternoon, as we were completing an activity, I observed one of my male residents and Military Heroes, Mr. B, go over to Mrs. A, one of our female residents, and give her a great big hug as he expressed his gratitude. I was curious as to why Mr. B was so thankful to Mrs. A, and what prompted this beautiful and touching display of love and appreciation!
As I sat down with them, they proceeded to tell me a story of how Mrs. A has been a seamstress all of her life and as she had developed a friendship with Mr. B, one of our Military Veterans, it became clear to her that some of his sweaters and slacks needed mending and a woman’s touch. Mr. B had lost his precious wife a few years prior to his residence with us. Mrs. A promptly offered her service to Mr. B, and she has been hemming his slacks and repairing and mending his sweaters and other items. Mr. B had been looking extremely dapper, so he cannot sing her praises enough of what a perfect and master seamstress Mrs. A is! She cannot sing his praises enough of what a debt we all owe to our precious Military men who have sacrificed so very much and given us our very Freedom at no cost to us, but at a great and sometimes very grave cost to them and their families!
She reinforced for me the need to do whatever it is that is in our capacity to do for others at every moment we identify the need and most especially for our Military and Veterans! I was moved to tears as these lovely residents are both well into their 90s and have both lived a life of service, yet they continue living a life of service with whatever abilities they still possess!
The result of this interaction was one of great love, appreciation, and admiration and a deepening friendship! It also created an even greater motivation within my soul to not only continue this practice in my own life, but to teach this to the next generation. It is what our nation was built on, and what love, respect, and freedom are all about!
It moved my heart to tears, but they were tears of great joy and hope! Yes, it is great to progress and move forward in all that is new, but it is also great to remember the foundational principles on which the great character within a human soul can develop, such as dignity, respect, honor, truth, faith, and service!
I thank Mrs. A & Mr. B for the great reminder and reinforcement of these great principals by which my own parents and grandparents have lived before me! Of course, Mrs. A and Mr. B insisted that I keep their identities private, and I wouldn’t have expected otherwise of these two amazing fellow human beings!