Hector Senior Center Grants Residents Their 'Dreams'
HECTOR, Minn. (WCCO) -- Just because we grow old doesn't mean we stop dreaming. Just as a child can wish for a trip to the Magic Kingdom, senior citizens have ideas of their own.
So for 25 residents of the Prairie View Senior Housing Facility in Hector, making those wishes come true turned into a serious matter.
The residents were pleasantly surprised as staff there granted each of them their wishes.
"Just because we grow old doesn't mean we still don't dream. Our residents here have dreams too," Facility Director Jacob Work said.
Work says that for the past few months, his staff has been asking all of the residents for ideas – things, places or trips they'd normally not consider possible.
"It gives you something to look forward to," resident Elaine Radloff said.
Radloff requested for the chance to dine out at her favorite restaurant in Litchfield – something she and her husband did so often.
She wasted no time saying the meal she has in mind.
"Barbeque ribs, they make the best barbecue ribs of anywhere around," she said.
One by one, the wishes were granted at a brief program on Thursday afternoon. Wishes that included a day spent in a park, hugging an old pet that was brought in for a rare visit and taking a ride for ice cream.
Jolene Klawitter will be planning on a trip to Canterbury to see the flower gardens and horses.
"Because for years I planted all the flowers at Canterbury," Klawitter said.
She says she's fine waiting until June when the park is open and the weather warms up.
Over at the local high school even some students got into the act.
"One man's dream was a red barn with a green roof," Shop Instructor Stephanie Supa said. "So Jacob asked if we could do it and we figured out how to get it done."
Supa's students built a replica barn and delivered the man's dream. A red barn with a green roof, the perfect reminder of life on the farm.
"It was really humbling to hear all their wishes. They were so simple, yet so meaningful," Supa said.
So simple, yet so significant - these priceless little pleasures of life, at any age.
When Klawitter is asked if she will lay down a wager at the horse track she just smiled and laughed, "I doubt it!"
