Young at Heart: Little Kids and Those of the Older Set Find Comfort in Each Other's Company at an Intergenerational Center

Gayes, Patty, U.S. Catholic

At age 3, Annie was everyone's darling, an outgoing little imp who amused the elderly clients at the fledgling day services facility with her songs, dances, and endless prattle. The daughter of a staff member there, she was short on inhibitions, known to hop up on the lap of the wheelchair-bound clients and ask for a ride around the room.

One of the men there, Stan, was prone to grand mal seizures that ripped through him like a hurricane and left him asleep the rest of the day. There were signs of the impending seizure, which everyone at the small care center had come to know, but usually it was difficult to find a way to stop the seizures from developing. Little Annie happened to see these signs in Stan one day.

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She jumped up in his lap and gave him a tight hug. The symptoms stopped, and Stan was saved from the seizure.

Edna Lonergan, a Sister of St. Francis of Assisi, has never forgotten that priceless …

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Publication information: Article title: Young at Heart: Little Kids and Those of the Older Set Find Comfort in Each Other's Company at an Intergenerational Center. Contributors: Gayes, Patty - Author. Magazine title: U.S. Catholic. Volume: 72. Issue: 10 Publication date: October 2007. Page number: 30+. © 2008 Claretian Publications. COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale Group.

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