February Frolics

After a busy December, things came to a halt in January, with Residents, staff and Sisters coming down with various colds and viruses. After a month of recuperation, everyone was bored with cabin fever and ready for something to do. Luckily, February was full of fun events!

To make sure everyone would stay healthy, Residents first had their throats blessed on February 3, feast of St. Blaise.

Then members of the Home’s Association Jeanne Jugan (AJJ), a lay group associated with the Little Sisters of the Poor, sponsored their annual Resident Day, with a Disney theme. The Social Hall was beautifully decorated with pictures and paraphernalia of Mickey and his friends. The event kicked off with some dances performed by students from Kathi Agovino’s Dance Studio in Morton, who performed to music from Disney movies. We then had various groups shouting out the answers to Disney trivia questions. Finally, some of the Sisters and AJJ members started off the music portion of the day by singing, “It’s a Small World” and the Mickey song.

We then prepared for Valentine’s Day, with a visit from students from Regina Coeli Academy, who made Valentine’s Day cards with the Residents. Both young and old enjoyed chatting with each other and collaborating on the project. A true time of love between the two generations!

Valentine’s Day started off with a gift of love from God. We had the sacrament of the anointing of the sick during our daily Mass, asking for God’s strength and healing in our ailments. Our chaplain, Father Sullivan, along with three other priest friends, imposed their hands over each Resident and Sister, and also blessed them with the sacred oil.

After a quick Mardi Gras hurrah –

We then moved into quiet mode on Ash Wednesday.

Finally, we ended February with a line dancing event with the Hospitality Club, a group of young girls who have been coming monthly to the Home to visit with and entertain our Residents. The girls partnered with the Residents and danced the winter blues away!