Lady Links

The Lady-Links believe that “love bears all things” and we know how to put that into action.  Our goal is to bring love and laughter into the lives of our dear friends, those ladies in various stages of cognitive decline who live in our community.  We show this type of “active love” year round with our visits and with the cards and crafts we share with them.  Valentine’s Day is just an opportunity to emphasize what we do on a regular basis.  Why?  Because our dear friends deserve to be loved, encouraged, supported and included, regardless of their cognitive ability.  They still have intrinsic worth, and we reinforce that worth by letting them know we value them and the time we spend with them.   Making and giving valentines to our dear friends and to those in our continuing care community provides a chance to share both love and joy in a tangible way.

Between our visits with our dear friends and our Valentine Party, we made over 130 valentines to distribute.

The Valentine Party was filled with love and laughter as we made the valentines and enjoyed a delicious cake.

Our newest Lady-Links received their pins at the conclusion of the party.  They bring our numbers of volunteers to sixty-four, helping us to make six scheduled visits per week to our dear friends, plus numerous unscheduled visits to our friends in our continuing care community.

A group of Lady-Links distributed the valentines to residents in our continuing care community.  We found that personally giving a valentine to someone can be a meaningful gesture that provides emotional comfort and connection.

Even if the dear friend struggles with memory, receiving a valentine helps reinforce positive interactions offering a reminder that they are loved, valued, and not alone.

 

The Lady-Links wish you a season of love that bears all things because that type of love brings feelings of warmth and belonging that can last all year long.

As Lady-Links, we know the importance of keeping thinking and memory connections active with our dear friends, those ladies in our retirement community in various stages of cognitive decline.  Such connections can actually slow the progression of cognitive impairment and help maintain brain function. Any type of craft activity offers a sense of purpose, provides mental stimulation, and improves fine motor skills.  But making Christmas crafts together goes a step further by sparking memories of  Christmas traditions resulting in great social interactions as they are shared and acknowledged.

Each year, we engage our dear friends in making Christmas and holiday crafts during our weekly visits with them.  In addition, the Lady-Links and their guests enjoy a Christmas party where we make additional crafts to give to the residents who reside in our community’s continuing care neighborhood.

 

It all began in 2013 with our first dear friend and 12 Lady-Links.

Today, our numbers have grown to include 66 Lady-Links and numerous dear friends.  The goal remains the same: to engage our dear friends in activities they enjoy and to enrich their lives with love, laughter and joy.   The latest Christmas dear friend visits and party met that goal with lots of love, laughter and joy shared as we made the Christmas crafts together.

A group of Lady-Links distributed over 100 Christmas and holiday crafts to the residents in our continuing care community.

The Lady-Links realize that the blessings go multiple ways with our Christmas crafts events.  Although we do this with our dear friends in mind, we benefit just as much as they do from the joy that is shared.  Our lives are enriched and our hearts are touch by the friendships we make with each visit and connection. It is a Wonderful Life, and the Lady-Links agree with Clarence (the angel) who told George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart), “No man (woman) is a failure who has friends.”

From the Lady-Links to you…May you have a Wonderful Life filled with joy as you interact with dear friends you know and love.

The Lady-Links know how to celebrate patriotic holidays with our dear friends, those ladies we visit who have some type of cognitive decline.  Whether it’s making crafts, looking at holiday decorations, singing songs, or sharing memories of July 4th picnics and fireworks, the Lady-Links find ways to engage their dear friends in activities.  The crafts we make at the visits with our dear friends are distributed to residents in our continuing care community.  It’s a delightful way to celebrate the history of our great country while providing cognitive stimulation and connection.

Happy Fourth of July from the Lady-Links to you!

We Lady-Links think about “linking” each time we visit a dear friend.  That’s where our name originated…helping ladies in cognitive decline continue to link to important parts of their lives.  These connections or “links” as we like to call them are a way for our dear friends to continue to interact with us and the world around them.  This helps our dear friends maintain cognitive function, improve their mood, and enhance the overall quality of their lives.  To do this, we use objects or “props” to facilitate conversation and interest.  Tapping into memories is easy when we bring something to our Show and Tell visits that we know our dear friend probably did when she was younger.  Sewing and crafting are two big topics that our generation most likely enjoyed at some point in time in our lives.

Using open-ended questions such as “tell me about…”  or “what did you do when you…” or “how did you …” help facilitate conversation.

 

Such interaction (linking) can potentially slow the progression of the cognitive decline.  Socialization through shared memories helps reduce isolation and can lead to increased feelings of self-worth.  Our Show and Tell visits provide many benefits for both the dear friend and her Lady-Links, with everyone enjoying a trip down memory lane.  These visits are fun and lead to an abundance of love and laughter expressed throughout our time together.

Are you laughing yet?  You should be…we certainly did at a recent Show and Tell visit with our dear friends, those ladies in our retirement community with various types of cognitive decline.  All of our Lady-Links visits are designed to bring love and laughter to everyone involved as we engage with our dear friends in activities they enjoy.  This little animated circus monkey caused us to laugh with gusto as he clanged his cymbals together.

This Show and Tell little monkey did what it was intended to do…bring joy and inspire conversation. Talks of childhood circus memories and childhood toys filled our time together…in between the laughter!

Socialization is so important in the lives of those with cognitive decline.  The Lady-Links visits help our dear friends keep the brain active, maintain memory, and enhance communication skills. Our visits are fun and beneficial for everyone, including the Lady-Links.

 

 

Easter is one of our favorite times of the year.  We enjoy seeing the spring flowers and the leaves on the trees emerge reminding us of new life, and we find meaningful the faith-based foundation of the season.  At our Lady-Links visits with our dear friends, those ladies in our community in various stages of cognitive decline, we love to share memories of this time of the year.  From childhood Easter egg hunts to new dresses and shoes to Easter sunrise services, we each have something to contribute to the conversation.  The crafts we choose to make are always a springboard for sharing memories and interacting with our dear friends.  Those crafts are given to residents in our continuing care community, so they serve a dual purpose.  This year, in addition to the crafts we made,  we helped fill plastic eggs for a community-wide Easter egg hunt.  It was a blessing for us to be involved in so many ways to help make the Easter season special.

Happy Easter from the Lady-Links to you!

The Lady-Links and their guests shared lots of love and laughter as they made over 100 valentines to give to the continuing care residents in our community.  With delicious cake and punch, as well as greetings from our Resident Life Director, all felt this was a very special time together. The Lady-Links know how important it is for everyone, regardless of physical or cognitive ability, to feel loved and appreciated.  These valentines will be personally delivered with words of encouragement and kindness. 

Happy  Valentine’s Day from the Lady-Links!

Each year, the Lady-Links have a Christmas Party with the purpose of spreading joy by making ornaments to share.  That joy is evident at the party as we get together as a large group, but joy will also be evident in the next few days as we distribute those ornaments to our dear friends, those ladies in our community in various stages of cognitive decline that we visit on a regular basis. In addition, we will distribute ornaments throughout our continuing care residence to our neighbors there.

Our host for the party is the husband of our very first dear friend.

Sharing memories of her and how the Lady-Links got started in 2013 is a tradition at our Christmas party. Three of the Lady-Links on her original team gathered with her husband for a special picture.

Our Craft Coordinator has all the ornaments ready for us to assemble.  Before the party is over, we will make 110 ornaments that will bring joy to those who receive them.

Our party wouldn’t be complete without a Christmas cake and punch.

There was joy everywhere as we worked together in the spirit of love and giving.

Our finished ornaments filled the table.

Our resident life team brought much appreciated words of encouragement to our group.

We ended our party with a pinning ceremony recognizing some of our newest Lady-Links.  It was a time of joy and rejoicing with love and laughter throughout the event.

Merry Christmas from the Lady-Links.

 

 

Thanksgiving is a time to embrace and acknowledge the blessings of the year.  As Lady-Links, we are thankful for the opportunity to visit our dear friends, those ladies in our community with cognitive decline, engaging them in activities they enjoy.  It is a wonderful feeling to know that we are making a difference in their lives, but what is perhaps surprising is the difference it makes in our lives too.  The friendships that have developed during our visits are seasoned with love, laughter, and shared memories.  We are truly thankful for our dear friends and the blessing of being together through this season of life.

We always enjoy making  Thanksgiving crafts at our November visits and then distributing them to the continuing care residents of our community.

Thanksgiving thoughts…always involve our dear friends and the journey they are traveling.  It’s a privilege and an honor to be on that journey with them and to find ways to connect through Thanksgiving crafts and memories.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Lady-Links

The name of our group is Lady-Links.  Our purpose is to help ladies with cognitive decline maintain important links (social, intellectual, and emotional) in their lives by engaging them in activities they enjoy.  We visit these dear friends in our retirement community on a weekly basis, and we see firsthand the difficult effects that Alzheimer’s has on them and on their families.  Alzheimer’s is a progressive neurological disease that doesn’t yet have a cure.  We’ve been at the start of finding a cure, and we plan to be cheering at the finish line when that cure is found.

By walking to show support for our dear friends and donating to help fund the research necessary to find a cure, we are actively involved in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s each year.  We are part of a retirement community who takes this commitment very seriously.  Our friends, neighbors, husbands, community staff  and local businesses help make this annual event successful.

We are committed to bringing love and laughter into the lives of our dear friends for as long as it takes until a cure is found.

When that happens, we will be there to celebrate but will always remember the years we faithfully participated in a walk that helped us reach that finish line.