The Lady-Links look for ways to interact with our dear friends, those ladies in our retirement community in various stages of cognitive decline.  We’ve found that playing Uno is a great way to enjoy a visit together, plus there are benefits as well.

There’s something special about playing a card game in our adult years that we used to play as a child.  It brings back wonderful memories, many of which involve a favorite grandparent spending time with us, teaching us to play games like Uno, Go Fish, Old Maid or Canasta.  Such positive emotional stimulation affects our attitude, and the effects can last even after the card game has ended.

Uno, as well as other card games, can stimulate the brain helping with cognitive function.  Uno keeps the mind active, boosts concentration, and promotes hand-eye coordination and tactile stimulation.  In addition, Uno improves recall of numbers and colors, direction of play, and rules.

When playing Uno with our dear friend, we occasionally give “prompts” that will help her play successfully.  We only give “help” when needed.  We maintain the rules of the game, but at the same time, we slow the pace of the game and give verbal directions such as when a card is played that requires a reversal of the direction of play.

Skills of shuffling and dealing the cards will decline as cognition worsens, but there’s still many benefits to being part of a group that can engage in an enjoyable game of Uno.  The fun, social interaction is what’s important, and Uno provides all that and more!

Remember when we were kids how much fun we had coloring?  Well….coloring isn’t just for kids anymore!  Adults are enjoying coloring more than ever…studies show it brings a calmness and a sense of creative purpose…and when you’re a Lady-Link and you combine the benefits that coloring brings to you plus the benefits it will bring when your “masterpiece” is in the form of a “thinking of you” card that is received by someone you care about….well what could be better? Our cards were colored with love and laughter, designed for our dear friends…those ladies in our retirement community who are in various stages of cognitive decline.

The Lady-Links met on two separate days to enjoy coloring cards with flower designs that were created by one of our community’s resident artists.  We laughed, we shared stories, we reminisced, and we colored to our heart’s content!  A special treat was when our resident artist made a surprise visit to see what fun we were having with her cards!

She encouraged us to have fun, be creative, and enjoy the moment!  We did, knowing that this was a special opportunity to relax and be “a kid” again.

Coloring the cards was such fun, and the preparation ahead of time helped our events go smoothly.  We made flower labels for the envelopes so our “flower theme” would be complete.

Since we were making a “thinking of you” card, we wanted to have ideas available for the message for the inside of each card. Every Lady-Link chose her own encouraging saying, making it personal for her dear friend.

The results were amazing….flowers in every color imaginable, each adorning a very special card with a message of encouragement.  We know that our dear friends will enjoy them.

Lady-Links….we color because we care!

What a joy it is for the Lady-Links to be able to resume some of our friendship visits and have fun working on projects together, in person!  At this visit we made cards to send to those in our retirement community who need a cheerful reminder that someone is thinking of them. We talked, we laughed, and we had a great time making these colorful cards.

To make the cards easy to assemble at our visits with our dear friends, we organize the supplies in such a way that each person can contribute to the completion of the design.

The supplies were a combination of self-adhesive felt flower parts from a craft store with a computer generated “Have A Nice Day” printout which we made into a sticker using a sticker-maker machine.  Only one part of the flower required gluing, and we did that prior to the visit.

As a result, the flower cards were easily assembled and the love and laughter flowed freely!

It is wonderful to be able to make in-person visits again and continue to strengthen the friendship bonds around a table!

Have A Nice Day

“Children are great imitators; so give them something great to imitate.”

As Lady-Links we make every effort to ensure that our dear friends, those ladies in our community in various stages of cognitive decline, feel valued and appreciated.  We’re adults….so we “get it”…. every card, every craft, and every communication with our dear friends is done with their sense of self-worth and dignity in mind.  We truly care about our dear friends and consider them just that…friends who are dear to us.  That sense of caring is a part of who we are as Lady-Links and, because we do care, we look for ways to encourage others to care as well.  What better place to start than with our own grandchildren?

For two years, my granddaughter has designed, painted, and created cards for me to use to send to my dear friends.  She knows that the recipients of these cards are ladies who have difficulties in the way they are able to think and remember things.  She sees my desire to want to give each of these dear friends an individually created card that they will enjoy because I value their friendship and want them to have something special.

She combines colors and designs that she thinks they will find pleasing, and she does her best to create a card that they will treasure. This labor of love that we accomplish together is part of a mindset that all of us at Lady-Links hope to impart…that every person deserves to be treated with respect and kindness regardless of cognitive ability.

We as Lady-Links don’t think that we’re great.  What we do think, and actually know, is that the concept of showing kindness and respect to everyone is what is great. We love our dear friends and are looking forward to resuming our in-person visits with them soon.  In the meantime, we will continue to send special cards with our love and include a touch of a granddaughter’s love as well.  A great way to share a great concept!

Lady-Links:  Linking Love and Laughter with Life

 

We were all eager for Spring to arrive!  With the record-setting winter our area experienced just a few weeks ago, we were looking forward to Spring more so than ever.

A frozen pond and temperatures of 2 degrees below zero are very unusual for our area.  We were “snowed in” only for a little while thanks to our retirement community’s quick response to clearing the doorways and sidewalks of the drifts that were quite high in many places.

The ducks didn’t seem to mind this weather and, we must admit, it was a beautiful scene as the snow fell and a “winter wonderland” appeared.   But after several days….we were looking forward to warmer weather and hoping that Spring will hurry up and arrive!  And, of course, it did providing the Lady-Links with another reason to celebrate!  Hello Spring!

We made crafts for our dear friends, those ladies in our community who are in various stages of cognitive decline.  In addition, we made crafts for those residents in our continuing care community too.

We included Easter crafts as well.  Our Lady-Links are willing to give of their time, resources, and efforts to continue to reach out to our friends, letting them know that we are thinking of them.  Wearing masks has become a part of our routine, but hopefully one day that  won’t be necessary.  Until then, we are happy to meet the restrictions that are in place to assure us of a safe and healthy environment.

We love getting together to celebrate our friendship bond with each other and with the dear friends and neighbors who will receive these cheerful, colorful crafts.  That’s what “community” is all about….caring for one another….and that’s what the Lady-Links do by “Linking Love” through their craft projects as they connect with others.

We are still unable to make in-person visits to all our dear friends due to continued COVID restrictions, but we’re finding creative ways to let those ladies in our community who have some type of memory loss or cognitive issues know that the Lady-Links are thinking of them.  Sending cards is a great way to keep in touch from a distance and to help celebrate special events such as St. Patrick’s Day!

Using a “sticker-making” machine is a quick and easy way to get the cards ready to assemble.  If you don’t have one of these, then rubber cement is our choice of adhesive.

Past celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day included making crafts.  The pictures below are from pre-COVID days, and we hope to return to these types of visits where we worked on crafts together one day soon.

In the meantime, we will continue to be thankful that we have dear friends that are more valuable to us than gold, and we will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in a safe and healthy way.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the Lady-Links.

Reaching out to our dear friends is a way the Lady-Links help them dispel feelings of loneliness. This was much easier to do prior to the COVID-19 pandemic when we could make in-person visits to them, but we’ve managed to be successful in reaching out in some creative ways even from a distance.

A feeling of loneliness can come upon anyone.  However, most of us only experience it during short periods in our life.  During times of imposed social restrictions for an extended period of time, such as what we’ve all seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, attention needs to be placed on meeting the needs of those who might suffer extensive damage both emotionally and mentally as a result of such isolation.  For our dear friends, those ladies in our retirement community in various stages of cognitive decline, their rate of cognitive loss and socialization skills can be even greater without the personal visits we were previously able to make.  That’s why we’ve developed ways to reach out to them during this time of physical restrictions and lack of in-person interaction.

Here’s 5 Ways to Help Prevent Loneliness by Reaching Out to Others

1.  Send a Treat.  First of all, find out if there are any food allergies or concerns.  Once you’ve done that, then select something to send that your friend will enjoy.  We’ve sent chocolate chip cookies for “National Chocolate Chip Day” and a bag of chocolates for “Do Something Nice Day.”  There’s a National Donut Day (June 4), a National Sugar Cookie Day (July 9), a National Pretzel Day (April 26), and a National Banana Day (April 21).  In fact, there’s a “National Day” for just about anything you can imagine that would inspire you to send something unique to your friend or loved one.  Make it fun.  How about tying a bow around the banana you send for National Banana Day?  Don’t you think that would bring a smile or even some laughter when your friend receives it?2.  Send a joke.  Find some jokes that are appropriate and easy to understand.  We did just that…making a Joke Book to send to our dear friends.  However, if you don’t want to make a Joke Book, simply write a joke on an index card and send it to your friend.  Most of our dear friends weren’t able to read our jokes themselves…they had a spouse or caregiver who read them aloud to them.  We were told that our dear friends continued to look at the Joke Book for many days afterwards and to smile every time they held it or saw it.  Actually, we heard that the caregivers loved our Joke Book too and used it many times later as an engaging activity they could do together.3.  Send a seasonal craft.  We love making crafts, and some of the ones that are most appreciated are the ones that can be hung from a door handle or knob so that they can be seen easily. This is a reminder for our dear friends of what season of the year we’re currently experiencing. We find these ready-to-make crafts online and at hobby stores.  They are easy to assemble and result in such a colorful, cheerful product.4.  Send a small flower arrangement.  We picked our own…zinnias from the garden of one of our Lady-Links.  These colorful flowers made beautiful arrangements in small vases and were delivered on an “ordinary” day.  By that I mean that it wasn’t a birthday or a holiday…just an ordinary day when our dear friends were pleasantly surprised and so delighted that someone was thinking of them.  5.  Send a card or note.  Do you remember “Pen Pals” from your childhood…someone you would write to and then you would look in the mailbox every day afterwards hoping that they wrote you back?  Our dear friends love getting mail….we know they aren’t going to write back or even acknowledge our cards….but their spouses and caregivers let us know how our cards and notes are enjoyed day after day as they are loving held as if they are a special keepsake.  We write phrases like “Thinking of You” or “So Glad We’re Friends” or “Just a Friendly Little Hello from Me to You” or “Thinking of You Always Makes Me Smile” in our “store-bought cards” or in cards we make.    These cheerful words help our dear friends feel valued and loved which is exactly what is needed to dispel feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Reaching out to our dear friends is important to the Lady-Links because we know what a lifeline it can be.  We’re not going to let our dear friends go through this time of social isolation which can lead to loneliness without a “touch” from us, even if it is from a distance for now.  We’re committed to reaching out.  What about you?

Our Mardi Gras celebration was different this year, due to COVID restrictions.  The Lady-Links had a choice…be disappointed that we couldn’t have our usual party and community-wide dinner or be thankful that we had alternative ways in which to celebrate.  We decided to CHOOSE JOY and be grateful for what we could do, and not focus on what we couldn’t do.  We celebrated individually with shelf and door decorations, watching a local in-house television production on the origins of Mardi Gras, and by sending encouraging notes and cards to our dear friends.

The Mardi Gras program by way of our in-house TV studio was fun as the Lady-Links and our dear friends, as well as others in our community, could feel a sense of connection as we celebrated together via the airwaves!

Our dear friends enjoyed it all…even though it was modified so that we celebrated individually in our homes, but the JOY was there!

Some of our past Mardi Gras celebrations provide us with great memories.  We look forward to the time we’re past COVID and can resume visits to all our dear friends.

In the meantime, we are celebrating as best as we can with JOY, and finding ways to continue to bring love and laughter to our dear friends.

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

Here’s a Valentine

Made especially for You!

The Lady-Links aren’t going to let the COVID restrictions stop us from making and sending valentines to our dear friends!  We’ve learned how to flourish in each “restricted” situation by following the guidelines for wearing masks, social distancing and by having an attitude that says “we’re going to focus on what we can do, not on what we can’t.”  As a result, the Lady-Links were able to make over 100 valentines to send to our dear friends, those ladies in our community in various stages of cognitive decline, as well as sending valentines to all our neighbors living in our continuing care residence.

We had two options for this big event….attending in person or what we call the “Linking from Home” option where the Lady-Link makes the valentines in her home.  There were 22 Lady-Links who attended in person and 17 Lady-Links who chose the “Linking from Home” option.  For those who attended our Valentine Event, there was much love and laughter shared during our time together.

These valentines will let our dear friends know how much we value our friendship with them and is a way of sending our love.

The Lady-Links have made valentines each year since we were first organized to share with our dear friends and other residents.  Up until this year, we were able to have activities that included our dear friends in the actual making of the valentines.  However, that’s not the case this year, and the Lady-Links came up with a plan to show how much we care even though our dear friends weren’t present.  We have fond memories of pre-COVID Valentine’s Day parties and activities, and thought a trip down our Valentine Memory Lane was appropriate.   Scroll below to enjoy some Valentine pictures before COVID.

To the Lady-Links, Valentine’s Day is an opportunity to link to the lives of our dear friends and neighbors with love and laughter, even if it has to be from a distance.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

With Love and Laughter,

Your Lady-Links Friends

Celebrating birthdays is important, regardless of circumstances, and the Lady-Links have a plan to make birthdays special for our dear friends.  Although we can’t visit and give an in-person party as we used to because of COVID restrictions put in place for our health and safety, there’s plenty we can do.  Like sending a “ton” of cards to help brighten each dear friend’s special day.

A Happy Birthday headband to wear on her special day adds fun to the occasion.  We’ve always wanted to be “Queen for a Day” so why not be a “Birthday Queen for a Day” each year!  Works for me!

Other gifts and surprises make the celebration complete!

Hopefully, one day the Lady-Links will be able to celebrate again in-person with our dear friends.  While we’re waiting, enjoy some pictures from a few of our past birthday bashes!

The Lady-Links look forward to celebrating birthdays with all our dear friends in a safe and healthy way because it shows we care!  Move over, COVID,  we know how to celebrate in spite of you!