How To Change A Life: His Wife's Grave

The best part of the industry we all work in is the chance to change a life. We are capable of changing our residents’ lives on a daily basis, which not many people can say. On one of these particular days, Sean Tracy, our Veterans Project Coordinator was doing what he does best: interviewing a resident veteran one on one. During the interview, this resident, Bob, shared a sad story with Sean. He told Sean that he had recently lost his driving privileges and that due to strained family dynamics, he had no way of going to the cemetery to visit his wife’s grave. He mentioned that when he was still driving that he would visit her grave every day just to talk with her. Bob then told Sean that it had been some time since he had last had a chance to visit with her.

Sean knew he had to do something, so he reached out to Curtis Avison, the Executive Director of Bob’s community, StoryPoint Rockford. Before Sean even had a chance to ask Curtis if he could take Bob to visit his wife, Curtis said he would be delighted to take him personally. Sean watched as he quickly jotted down a date on his calendar and thanked Sean for bringing this to his attention.

Not soon after, Sean received the picture of Bob shown here as well as an email from Curtis. His email explained that he picked some flowers, told Bob that they were going for a drive and unbeknownst to the resident, headed to the cemetery. Curtis ended his email by stating that Bob has been all smiles since that day.

“It’s amazing when I am able to be a part of something that is so impactful to the soul of one of our residents.” – Curtis Avison, Experience Specialist