I admit it! No one is safe from my Holly Jolly Christmas spirit! Not even at my work place!!! But you see.....................the Christmas spirit is meant to be shared!
You cannot even imagine how difficult it is to be recovering from a broken hip or a broken shoulder, recovering from a total knee replacement or struggling to recover from a stroke or other illness and be STUCK in an unfamiliar and seemingly cold place as a Rehabilitation Center during Christmas time.
So I make it my rehab business to cheer everyone up and get them involved in decorating for the season. I use each project within the scope of their rehab, what they need to recover to be able to go home, such as balance and fine motor skills needed for dressing or cooking. Rehab work does not always have to be just lifting weights and exercise! It becomes such fun to get well in this way and takes their minds off of the pain and the problems and brings back memories of childhood Christmas past.
So I thought I would share these photos with you and with myself also, so that they can be looked at and remembered in the months and the year to come..............
We started with painting and glittering snowy pinecones...
then we added strings of popcorn and cranberries and made snowballs...
Next we made fan ornaments with sheet music, toilet paper rolls and bits of shiny garland...
We added spicy gumdrops, hot glued to a Styrofoam ball and hung them from ribbons...
Poinsettias made from...would you believe? Toilet paper rolls, red paint and glitter!
Tiny stars, bells and crosses made from applesauce and cinnamon dough. They made our rehab gym smell amazing!
A festive garland of peppermints made from small paper plates, red and green paint and lots of glitter...covered in cellophane and tied with curly ribbon, dressed up the sliding door to the outside patio.
Even the clock above the mat table got dressed in huge candies made from plastic containers covered with wrapping paper and tied with curly ribbon!
The completed tree. Every single ornament was hand made by one of my patients! Isn't it beautiful?
I won't soon forget this Christmas season. It sparkled and glowed, not just with ornaments, but smiles and giggles and laughter.
Thank you, my wonderful residents! For making my Christmas one to remember! Our rehab gym looks bare and empty now. But my heart, and hopefully yours too, is full of memories.
That is awesome, YOU are awesome! What a WONDERFUL idea. I'm sure it is something none of them will soon forget. I think it is sad how many people out there don't give things like this any thought - as far as trying to really make a difference in someone's life during a hard time. So many people go to work, do the minimum for their job, and then go home. You are a bright light in what often seems like a dark world, my friend.
ReplyDeleteOh Bobbie....I love you so! What a lovely thing to have said...truth is? I love my people and I love my Jesus. And I think EVERYONE should!
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