Mrs. Meri

Hailey and I are still going visiting to the nursing home every couple days, just to brighten their days. Hailey walks out the door with her stroller and baby of choice and says "Say Hi!?" which means she wants to go the nursing home. It's such a joy for me that she doesn't mind going and actually enjoys it! I haven't posted for awhile about our visits but Friday was special. Nich came too and we went to see our regulars, Mr. Anthony, Mrs. Christiana, Mrs. Meri, Mr. Jerry and Mrs. Opal.

Mr. Anthony & Mr. Jerry share a room and have a stuffed dalmatian with a fire hat on top of their dresser and Hailey knows exactly which room to go to and where to point for the puppy. She usually takes puppy for a walk around the nursing home (always returning it to Mr. Anthony so we can play next time). It seemed like everyone was in kind of a down mood, which made it perfect for Hailey to see them! She can just brighten up a room! She gave Mr. Anthony and Mr. Jerry high knuckles and let Mr. Jerry tickle her. Both men were baby talking and laughing with her!

We stopped and saw Mrs. Opal, who always tells us of her 2 grandsons that are about Hailey's age that she misses. Her daughter was visiting, so that was just a quick visit. Mrs. Christiana wasn't in her room.

We stopped to see Mrs. Meri who is quite a bit younger than everyone else and so fun to interact with! She just looked like she was about to cry the whole visit and Hailey said hi, grabbed her honey graham bears, and ran off to someone else - Nich followed, which gave me a chance to talk to Mrs. Meri. She's probably in her late 40s, early 50s and is in the nursing home for rehabilitation of her foot. She started crying and asked me to pray for her foot. She now has 100% mobility, but tried stairs and fell. (Once she can do stairs she can go home). I gave her a hug and said let's pray now. We did and she and I both cried and asked God for strength and encouragement. She gave me another hug and told me how much of a blessing my family has been to her. That moment made everything make sense. Those residents hardly see young kids, rarely have physical contact, and don't often have family visitors. Hailey makes everyone's day. She doesn't hesitate to give them a high five, or let them touch her. She is just her friendly, lovable, caring self and God is using her to be that blessing and ray (how ironic - Hailey Rae) of sunshine in each visit. It's amazing to see this little girl making such a big difference!